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Purchased    by  the 
Mrs.    Robert   Lenox    Kennedy  Church    History   Fund, 


Division. ...^../\.'€>.C^Z.'\  ^ 
Section i.N^-fe.D. 

Number 


A  HISTORY 


OF   THE 


BAPTISTS  IN  THE  WESTERN  STATES 

EAST  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI 


7^ 

JUSTIN  A.  SMITH,  D.  D. 

Editor  of  the  "  Standard  " 


"Different  statements  of  truth,  different  forms  of  worship,  an  altered  out- 
ward life,  there  may  be  ;  but  the  spiritual  affections,  the  sense  of  duty,  the 
charity,  the  penitent  trust,  the  divine  desire,  the  hatred  of  wrong,  the  faith 
in  the  unseen,  which  constitute  true  religion,  belong  to  all  generations." 

S.  L.  Caldwell,  D.  D. 


PHILADELPHIA 

AMERICAN    BAPTIST    I'UBLICATION    SOCIETY 

1420  Chestnut  Street 

1896 


Copyright  1896  by  the 
American  Baptist  Pubucatiun  Society 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTE 


The  Committee  of  Publication  of  the  American  Bap- 
tist Publication  Society  considers  itself  especially  fortu- 
nate in  having  secured  a  History  of  Baptists  in  the 
Western  States  east  of  the  Mississippi  from  one  whose 
personal  knowledge  covered  so  many  of  the  important 
movements  which  he  has  chronicled.  The  only  defect 
in  the  volume  arises  from  the  relation  of  the  author  to 
the  history.  There  is  no  account  of  Dr.  Smith's  share 
in  the  work  of  the  Baptists  in  Illinois  during  the  forty 
years  of  his  life  in  that  State.  The  Committee  cannot 
consent  to  give  to  the  public  a  history  with  no  other 
reference  to  Dr.  Smith's  part  in  the  events,  quorum  pars 
magna  fuit,  than  a  meagre  mention  of  dates. 

His  influence  in  giving  form  and  pressure  to  the  vari- 
ous denominational  movements  in  Illinois  can  hardly  be 
overestimated.  That  influence  arose  partly  from  his  po- 
sition as  editor  of  "The  Standard,"  still  more  from  an 
unselfish  public  spirit,  a  judicial  cast  of  mind  that  gave 
his  opinion  great  weight,  and  a  sweetness  of  temper  that 
made  all  men  his  friends. 

Dr.  Smith  entered  on  his  editorial  career  at  a  most 
opportune  time.  Only  twenty  years  had  elapsed  since 
the  organization  of  Chicago  as  a  town.  Ten  years  after- 
Avard,  in  1842,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  were 
yet  Territories.  The  treasury  of  Illinois  was  bankrupt ; 
the  currency  of  the  State  had  been  annihilated  ;  a  debt 
of  fourteen  million  dollars  had  been  contracted  ;  the 
means  of  communication,  East  or  West,  were  of  the 
most  primitive  character  ;  hence  there  was  no  market 
for  agricultural  productions,  and  with  no  money,  no 
market,  no  credit,  with  everybody  in  debt,  everything 

3 


4  publishers'  note 

was  at  a  standstill.  The  number  of  Baptist  ministers 
in  the  State  who  had  received  a  thorough  education  was 
so  small  that  one  hesitates  about  stating  it. 

In  1853,   the  aspect  of  affairs  had  greatly  changed. 
The  credit  of  the  State  was  re-established.     Railroads 
bec^an  to  make  their  way  westward,  and  were  proje^ed 
in    Illinois.     The    population    rapidly   increased,     ihe 
State  became  attractive  ;  churches  were  multiplied  ;  re- 
ligious enterprises  were  begun,  partaking  of  the  earnest- 
ness characteristic  of  such  a  population.     During  this 
decade,  two  or  three  newspapers,  some  of  them  spnghtly 
and  vigorous,  were  born,  lived  their  brief  hour,  and  died 
In  1853    "The  Christian  Times"  was  established,   and 
Dr   Smith  was  soon  installed  as  its  editor.     The  naine 
was  changed  to  the  honored  appellation  which  it  has 
since  borne.     The  Baptists  had  entei-ed  on  their  forma- 
tive period.     It  was  at  once  evident  that  Dr.  Smith  had 
come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this   and  that 
he  was  gifted  with   every   qualification   for  his  work. 
Master  of  a  style  of  singular  grace  and  beauty,  an  accu- 
rate and  accomplished  scholar,  widely  read  m  the  best 
literature,  his  columns  not  only  met  every  want    but 
eave   proof  of  his   ample   resources,    his   conscientious 
treatment  of  every  subject,  and  his  excellent  mfluence 
in  all  directions.     Under  his  editorship,  ' '  The  Standard 
won  national  character  and  reputation.    . 

It  does  not  belong  to  the  purpose  of  this  note  to  speak 
of  his  literary  work  in  other  lines.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
he  was  the  author  of  memoirs,  commentaries  and  pub- 
lished sermons,  which  the  world  ought  not  to  let  die. 
Interested  in  every  plan  for  progress,  unceasing  m  per- 
sonal effort,  foremost  in  every  council,  giving  time, 
thought,  energy,  to  laying  foundations  m  al  educa- 
tional and  missionary  lines,  he  was  an  integral  part  of 
the  denominational  life  in  the  Northwest.  And  it  is  the 
most  blessed  thought  in  the  recollection  of  him,  that  no 
eulogy  uttered  since  his  departure  has  not  been  gladly 
echoed  by  all  his  brethren  ;  no  word  of  praise  spoken 
after  death  was  not  spoken  of  him  and  to  him  before  he 
was  taken  from  us. 


PREFACE 


Ix  preparing  this  history  a  chief  difficulty  has  been  in 
the  collection  of  material.  The  sources  of  it  have  been, 
to  a  considerable  extent,  the  favors  of  obliging  corre- 
spondents, who  in  more  than  one  instance  have  been  at 
great  pains  to  render  in  a  really  helpful  way  the  aid 
solicited.  In  that  connection  we  name,  with  the  most 
sincere  thanks,  such  as  Drs.  Samuel  Haskell  and  A.  E. 
Mather,  and  Prof.  Daniel  Putnam,  of  Michigan  ;  Rev. 
James  Delany,  and  Drs.  David  Spencer,  D.  Halteman, 
and  M,  G.  Hodge,  of  Wisconsin  ;  Dr.  Justus  Bulkley, 
Rev.  B.  B.  Hamilton,  and  Rev.  E.  S.  Walker,  of  Illi- 
nois ;  President  W.  T.  Stott,  of  Indiana ;  Drs.  Daniel 
Shephardson  and  George  E.  Leonard  and  Mr.  George 
E.  Stevens,  of  Ohio,  with  Prof.  F.  W.  Shephardson,  of 
the  University  of  Chicago,  Rev.  W.  F.  Boyakin,  of 
Kansas,  and  Mrs.  G.  S.  Bailey,  of  California. 

In  footnotes  and  otherwise,  in  the  body  of  the  book, 
acknowledgment  is  made  to  these  and  others  who, 
either  in  correspondence  or  in  papers  read  on  different 
occasions  and  made  available  in  their  printed  form,  have 
so  efficiently  aided  in  a  task  which,  only  for  such  aid, 
would  have  been  very  much  more  difficult  if  not  practi- 
cally well-nigh  impossible.  At  the  end  of  the  book  are 
named  the  several  sources,  in  a  table,  with  a  view  to 
make  this  acknowledgment  more  full  and  explicit. 

5 


b  FEEFACE 

That  in  such  an  amount  of  detail  as  Baptist  history 
in  these  States  written  at  the  present  time  makes  imper- 
ative serious  omissions  will  occur,  is  much  to  be  feared. 
The  writer  has  been  especially  anxious  at  this  point,  yet 
apprehends  that  with  all  his  care  and  solicitude  his  success 
in  making  his  work  in  this  feature  of  it  complete  will 
be  only  partial.  May  he  hope  for  the  generous  consider- 
ation of  his  brethren  in  that  regard  ?  To  have  been  in 
any  sense  unjust  to  any  one,  or  to  any  interest,  will  be 
the  more  an  occasion  of  regret  as  his  long  association 
with  those  of  whom  in  these  pages  he  often  has  occasion 
to  write,  and  his  personal  relations  to  many  things  here 
to  be  recorded,  have  so  much  enlisted  his  own  personal 
sympathy,  while  recalling  associations,  alike  with  the 
living  and  the  dead,  which  often  could  not  be  thus  re- 
called without  deep  emotion. 

However  all  this  may  be,  the  book  is  offered  as  a  ser- 
vice and  a  tribute,  in  recognition  of  the  sterling  merit 
alike  of  those  who  have  led  and  those  who  have  co- 
operated in  Baptist  progress  on  this  great  field,  and  of 
that  splendid  record  so  made,  to  which  some  future  his- 
torian may  do  justice  where  the  present  one  has  failed. 

J.  A.  S. 


CONTENTS 

I.  Early  Times  in  the  West, 9 

II.  First  on  the  Field,  in  Ohio  and  Illinois,  24 

III.  First  on  the  Field,  in  Indiana,  Michigan, 

and  Wisconsin, 54 

IV.  Church  Beginnings  in  General,   ....  74 

V.  At  the  Chief  Centers, 94 

VI.  Conflicting   Elements, 120 

VII.  Church  Growth, 140 

VIII.  On  the  General  Field, 163 

IX.  Home  and  Foreign  Missions, 184 

.    X.  State  Organization, 220 

XI.  Sunday-schools  and  the  Young  People,     .  244 

XII.  Education — Collegiate.     I., 259 

XIII.  Education — Collegiate.    II., 295 

XIV.  Education — Theological  and  Secondary.  I.,  329 

7 


8  CONTENTS 

XV.  Education — Theological    and    Secondary. 

n., 352 

XVI. ,  Journalism, 365 

XVII.  The  Later  History, 395 


HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 


CHAPTER  I 

EARLY   TIMES   IN   THE   WEST 

rpHAT  rivalry  between  France  and  England,  often 
-L  taking  the  form  of  active  hostility,  which  sig- 
nalizes so  much  of  European  history,  found  otlier 
opportunities  of  manifestation  upon  the  American 
continent.  What  New  York,  New  England,  and 
Virginia,  were  to  England,  Canada  was  to  France, 
while  each  nationality  might  seem,  equally  with  the 
other,  entitled  to  gain  and  hold  new  domain  toward 
the  west,  in  the  measure  of  its  enterprise  in  exploring 
and  taking  possession.  Collision,  however,  was  in- 
evitable. As  French  adventure  and  colonization 
moved  westward  by  way  of  the  great  lakes,  and  south- 
ward and  westward  to  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi, 
they  found  after  a  time  their  right  of  occupancy  dis- 
puted. Meantime,  while  French  and  English  were 
contending  on  battlefields  in  Europe,  it  could  not 
fail  to  happen  that  wherever  representatives  of  those 
two  nationalities  should  meet  in  the  new  world,  it 
must  be  as  enemies,  not  as  friends. 

DiiFerences  of  relig.ion,  besides,  gave  to  these  colli- 

9 


10       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

sions  and  rivalries  a  significance  even  wider  than 
that  concerning  ownership  and  occupancy  of  mere 
territory.  Were  the  vast  regions  to  which  there 
were  these  conflicting  claims  to  be  Papal  or  Protes- 
tant? This  momentous  issue  was  involved  in  all  that 
earlier  history.  The  Jesuit  missionary  was  often  even 
in  advance  of  the  explorer  and  the  fur-trader,  and 
while  he  was  eagerly  seeking  to  make  converts  of  the 
Indian  tribes,  the  missions  planted  by  him  became 
centers  of  Catholic  colonization,  While  such  adven- 
turers as  La  Salle,  Joliet,  and  Nicollet,  were  extend- 
ing westward  and  southward  the  limits  of  discovery, 
Marquette  and  his  associates  were  no  less  activ^e,  and 
with  no  less  of  daring  and  self-sacrifice,  in  preparing 
the  way  for  what  it  was  meant  should  be  a  definite 
and  permanent  settlement  of  the  country. 

"  Soldiers  and  fur-traders,"  says  Parkman,^  "  fol- 
lowed where  th^se  pioneers  of  the  church  led  the  way. 
Forts  were  built  here  and  there  throughout  the 
country,  and  the  cabins  of  the  settlers  clustered  about 
the  mission-houses."  The  "  new  colonists,  emigrants 
from  Canada  or  disbanded  soldiers  of  French  regi- 
ments," however  wild  in  their  habits  of  life,  were  de- 
vout Catholics,  and  wherever  a  little  community  of 
them  gathered  there  was  a  center  of  the  Roman  faith. 
The  missionaries  were  animated,  no  doubt,  in  the 
main  by  intense  desire  for  the  conversion  of  the 
native  tribes.  "  While  the  colder  apostles  of  Protes- 
tantism labored  on  the  outskirts  of  heathendom,  these 
1  "The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  251. 


EARLY   TIMES    IN    THE   WEST  11 

champions  of  the  cross,  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  army 
of  Rome,  pierced  to  the  heart  of  its  dark  and  dreary 
domain,  confronted  death  at  every  step,  and  were  well 
repaid  for  all,  could  they  but  sprinkle  a  few  drops  of 
water  on  the  forehead  of  a  child,  or  hano;  a  golden 
crucifix  round  the  neck  of  some  warrior,  pleased  with 
the  glittering  trinket."  ^  None  the  less  were  they  the 
instruments  of  designs  far  more  secular  in  character. 

As  intimated  in  the  first  words  of  the  above  extract, 
Protestantism  found  no  such  fervid  championship. 
The  day  was  to  come  when  a  different  foi'ra  of  effort 
for  conversion  of  the  natives  should  be  made  by  minis- 
ters of  a  truer  faith  and  with  better  results  than  those 
just  described.  In  the  time  of  which  we  here  write, 
Protestantism  was  represented  simply  in  the  person  of 
the  American  pioneer,  seeking  a  home  farther  and 
farther  in  the  depths  of  the  Western  wilderness,  per- 
haps with  his  religious  instructor  and  guide  sharing 
with  him  the  rude  conditions  of  wilderness  life,  per- 
haps not,  yet  in  eitiier  case  representative  of  ideas 
which  must  mean  in  Western  development  something 
far  different  from  all  that  appeared  in  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary or  the  Canadian  settler. 

We  cannot  speak  here  of  the  more  warlike  forms 
of  this  contest  for  possession  and  occupancy  of  those 
regions  within  which  lie  the  States  whose  religious 
history  in  one  aspect  of  it,  is  to  occupy  us  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages.  Nor  can  we  do'  more  than  simply  to 
thus  note  in  passing,  how  much  deeper  was  the  sig- 
^  Parkman's  "  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,"  II.,  p.  250. 


12      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Dificauce  of  the  struggle,  often  so  fierce  and  bloody, 
than  simply  as  a  contest  for  the  possession  of  terri- 
tory. It  was  indeed  not  possible  that  this  vast  do- 
main should  ever  belong  to  France.  Had  it  been  so, 
aud  had  this  been  the  actual  outcome,  who  can  measure 
the  difference  in  result  from  what  appears  at  present, 
not  only  in  American  history,  but  in  the  history  of 
true  religion  throughout  the  world? 

Due  recognition  should  not,  meanwhile,  be  denied 
to  the  hardy  and  resolute  men  who  were  first  to  ex- 
plore the  mighty  wilderness  beyond  the  Western  lakes 
aud  along  the  Western  rivers :  such  as  La  Salle, 
Joliet,  Marquette,  and  Nicollet.  Of  these.  La  Salle 
appears  to  have  been  the  first.  In  1669  he  discov- 
ered the  Ohio  River,  and  followed  its  course  down  as 
far  as  where  Louisville  now  stands.  A  year  or  two 
later  he  passed  through  Lake  Michigan  as  far  as 
the  present  site  of  Chicago,  crossing  thence  to  the 
Illinois  River  and  descending  it,  as  is  claimed,  to  its 
junction  with  the  Mississippi.  In  1678,  on  his  third 
adventurous  expedition,  he  built  a  fort  on  the  Illinois 
below  what  is  now  Peoria,  leaving  his  heroic  asso- 
ciate, Tonti,  to  occupy  it,  while  he  himself  returned 
to  Canada  for  reinforcements  and  supplies.  In  1682, 
in  a  fourth  attempt,  he  explored  the  Mississippi  to  its 
mouth  and  in  the  name  of  his  king,  Louis  XIV., 
took  possession  of  the  whole  vast  region  from  the 
Alleghanies  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  giving  it  the 
name  Louisiana. 

Joliet  and  Marquette  were  more  or  less  associated 


EARLY    TIMES    IN    THE    WEST  13 

in  their  expeditions,  much  the  same  in  character  as 
those  of  La  Salle,  save  that  Marquette,  as  a  Jesuit 
missionary,  had  aims  and  hopes  of  his  own.  The 
first  human  dwellino-  other  than  the  wiijwams  of 
the  Indians,  where  Chicago  now  stands,  was  the  little 
log  hut  erected  for  Marquette  in  October,  1674,  by 
the  two  Frenchmen  who  remained  with  iiim  while 
Joliet  proceeded  upon  his  farther  explorations,  and 
which  sheltered  him  in  the  illness  caused  by  hard- 
ship and  exposure.  In  the  following  year,  prose- 
cuting his  mission  among  the  Indians,  he  proceeded 
as  far  south  as  Kaskaskia,  in  the  Illinois  country. 
Returning  northward,  his  strength  only  enabled  him 
to  reach  a  small  river  in  the  west  of  Michigan,  near 
the  promontory  called  the  "  Sleeping  Bear."  Here  he 
died,  his  remains  being  taken  for  burial  to  St.  Ignace, 
also  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Michigan. 

The  explorations  of  Joliet  were  along  the  Wiscon- 
sin, the  Illinois,  and  the  Mississippi  Rivers,  in  the 
years  1672-1674.  To  whom  the  honor  of  actual 
discovery  of  the  Mississippi  belongs,  whetlier  to  La 
Salle,  Joliet,  or  Marquette,  their  expeditions  to  the 
great  river  occurring  so  nearly  at  the  same  time,  is, 
we  believe,  a  question  still  undecided. 

The  first  actual  settlements  of  the  territory  now 
occupied  by  the  five  States  of  Ohio,  Michigan.  Indi- 
ana, Illinois,  and  Wisconsin  were,  as  we  have  said,  in 
the  interest  and  hope  of  a  French  occupation  of  this 
whole  region.  Detroit,  in  Michigan ;  Vincennes,  in  In- 
diana; Kaskaskia,in  Illinois;  Green  Bay,  in  Wiscon- 


14      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

sin,  were  originally  French.  Whether,  however,  they 
were  to  prove  actual  outposts  of  French  occupancy, 
depended  upon  the  continuance  of  the  French  posses- 
sion of  Canada,  and  this  in  no  small  degree  upon  the 
outcome  of  what  was  taking  place  upon  the  continent 
of  Europe  itself  While  France  found  its  resources 
taxed  to  their  utmost  in  holdino;  its  around  in  wars 
there  raging,  it  had  but  few  men  and  small  treasure 
to  spare  for  the  subjugation  of  a  continent  on  the 
other  side  of  the  sea.  Tlie  loss  of  its  Canadian  pos- 
sessions upon  the  taking  of  Quebec  by  the  British 
under  General  Wolfe,  meant  hopeless  failure  to  its 
scheme  of  occupying  with  French  settlements  the 
western  shores  of  the  great  lakes,  and  the  banks  of 
the  Wabash,  the  Ohio,  and  the  Mississippi.  The  ques- 
tion of  destiny,  in  the  particulars  here  considered, 
was  finally  decided  when,  during  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  the  enterprises  of  Colonel  George  Rogers 
Clark  resulted  in  gaining  for  American  freedom  and 
possession,  not  only  the  States  with  which  we  are 
here  concerned,  but  very  much  more  than  even  tliis. 
Very  just  is  the  tribute  paid  to  him,  where  it  is  said  : 
''  All  that  rich  domain  northwest  of  the  Ohio  was 
secured  to  the  public  at  the  peace  of  1783,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  prowess."  ^ 

Save  in  the  exceptional  cases  where  military  occu- 
pation more  or  less  prepared  the  way,  it  may  perhaps 
be  said  that  original  possession  of  the  territory  bor- 

^  Appleton's  "Cyclopaedia  of  American  Biography,"  article 
"  George  Kogers  Clark." 


EARLY    TIMES    IN    THE    WEST  15 

derino  on  the  o-reat  lakes  and  the  Ohio,  now  embraced 
within  the  States  of  which  we  are  here  especially  to 
speak,  was  in  general  otherwise  than  by  any  form  of 
deliberate  colonization.  As  population  in  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Kentucky,  spread  to  the  western  or 
northern  limit  of  those  States  severally,  it  would 
soon  break  over  tlie  border,  under  the  pressure  of 
that  restless  desire  for  change  which  has  been  so  much 
an  impelling  force  in  American  character  from  the 
beginning.  First  to  occupy  the  new  ground  would 
be  the  hunter  and  the  pioneer.  Only  after  a  lapse  of 
time,  save  in  exceptional  cases,  could  formal  settle- 
ments grow  up,  and  these  in  their  earlier  history 
could  only  be  of  the  crudest  kind.  It  was  not  long, 
however,  before  the  fame  of  the  rich  soil  and  mani- 
fold openings  for  enterprise  in  the  West , began  to 
suggest  the  idea  of  methods  in  colonization  more  de- 
liberate. Families  of  emigrants  from  the  older 
States  sought  the  new  territory,  and  the  cabin  of  the 
mere  pioneer  gave  place  to  the  better-ordered  dwell- 
ing of  "  the  settler." 

Among  these  latter  themselves  there  was  enough  of 
a  class  unique  in  American  life  to  impart  a  char- 
acter of  its  own  to  Western  population,  with  elements 
whose  influence  in  many  ways  was  to  be  felt  long 
after.  Speaking  especially  of  Illinois,  a  well-in-- 
formed  writer  says  :  ^ 

The  larger  proportion  of  these  first  American  settlers  came 

'Hon.  John  Moses,  in  his  "Illinois,  Historical  and  Statisti- 
cal," Vol.  I.,  pp.  229,  280. 


16       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN'  STATES 

from  Virginia  and  Marj'land.  While  a  few  had  received  a 
rudimentary  education,  and  had  lived  among  communities 
which  may  be  said  to  have  been  comparatively  cultured,  the 
most  of  them  were  hardy,  rough,  uncultivated  backwoodsmen. 
They  had  been  accustomed  only  to  the  ways  of  the  frontier 
and  camp.  Many  of  them  had  served  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  and  all  of  them  in  the  border  wars  with  the 
Indians.  While  they  were  brave,  hospitable,  and  generous, 
they  were  more  at  ease  beneath  the  forest  bivouac  than  in  the 
"living  room  "  of  the  log  cabin,  and  to  swing  a  woodman's 
axe  among  the  lofty  trees  of  the  primeval  forest  was  a  pur- 
suit far  more  congenial  to  their  rough  nature  and  active  tem- 
perament than  to  mingle  with  society  in  settled  communities. 
Their  habits  and  manners  were  plain,  simple,  and  unostenta- 
tious. Their  clothing  was  generally  made  of  the  dressed  skins 
of  the  deer,  wolf,  or  fox,  while  those  of  the  buffalo  and  elk 
supplied  them  with  covering  for  their  feet  and  hands.  Their 
log  cabins  were  destitute  of  glass,  nails,  hinges,  or  locks. 
Their  furniture  and  utensils  were  in  harmony  with  the  primi- 
tive appearance  and  rude  character  of  their  dwellings,  being 
all  home-made,  with  here  and  there  a  few  pewter  spoons, 
dishes,  and  iron  knives  and  forks.  With  muscles  of  iron  and 
hearts  of  oak,  they  united  a  tenderness  for  the  weak  and  a 
capability  for  self-sacrifice  worthy  of  an  ideal  knight  of  chiv- 
alry, and  their  indomitable  will,  which  recognized  no  obstacle 
as  insuperable,  was  equaled  only  by  integrity  which  regarded 
dishonesty  as  an  offense  as  contemptible  as  cowardice. 

Communities  made  up  of  such  elements,  and  under 
conditions  like  those  which  the  making  of  homes  on 
a  remote  frontier  must  necessarily  create,  would  have 
a  character  quite  their  own.  Yet  the  writer  we  have 
quoted  intimates  farther  on  that  the  primitive  settlers 
were  in  some  respects  of  a  higher  type  than  some,  at 
least,  of  those  who  came  later.     "  In  moral  endow- 


EARLY    TIMES    IN    THE    WEST  17 

ments/'  he  says,  "even  if  not  in  mental  attainments, 
these  sturdy  pioneers  of  Illinois  were,  it  must  be 
admitted,  vastly  superior  to  many  of  those  who  fol- 
lowed them  when  better  facilities  for  transportation 
rendered  the  country  more  accessible." 

It  is  suggestive  to  note,  in  this  connection,  upon 
the  other  hand,  what  Parkman  says  of  those  French 
settlers  who  were  first  on  the  ground,  and  who  were 
in  due  time  to  give  place  to  such  as  those  we  have 
just  mentioned.  He  is  describing  in  particular  the 
colony  at  Kaskaskia,  Illinois  : 

The  Creole  of  the  Illinois,  contented,  light-hearted,  and 
thriftless,  by  no  means  fulfilled  the  injunction  to  increase  and 
multiply,  and  the  colony  languished  in  spite  of  the  fertile 
soil.  The  people  labored  long  enough  to  gain  a  bare  subsist- 
ence for  each  passing  day,  and  spent  the  rest  of  their  time  in 
dancing  and  merry-making,  smoking,  gossiping,  and  hunting. 
Their  native  gayety  was  irrepressible,  and  they  found  means 
to  stimulate  it  with  wine  made  from  the  fruit  of  the  wild 
grapevines.  Thus  they  passed  their  days,  at  peace  with 
themselves,  hand  and  glove  with  their  Indian  neighbors,  and 
ignorant  of  all  the  world  besides.  Money  was  scarcely  known 
among  them.  Skins  and  furs  were  the  prevailing  currency, 
and  in  every  village  a  great  portion  of  the  land  was  held  in 
common.^ 

It  is  not  by  such  as  these  that  States  are  founded 
or  civilization  developed  in  institutions  that  endure  as 
centuries  come  and  go. 

Of   points   upon    this   then    new   territory   which 
became  in  due  time  chief  centers  of  population,  may 
1  "Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,"  p.  252. 


18       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

be  named  the  sites,  respectively,  where  now  stand 
the  cities  of  Detroit,  Cincinnati,  Milwaukee,  and 
Chicago.  The  settlements  at  these  points,  especially 
at  the  first  and  the  last,  owed  their  origin,  first  of  all, 
to  their  importance  as  military  posts — the  date  of 
their  occupancy  being  in  the  order  just  named.  First 
upon  the  ground  at  Detroit  was  La  Motte  Cadillac, 
by  whom  a  military  colony  was  planted,  and  a  fort 
built  in  1701.  It  soon  grew  to  be  one  of  the  most 
important  of  French  outposts  in  the  West.  The 
British  took  possession  of  it  in  1760,  at  the  time  of 
their  conquest  of  Canada,  holding  it  until  1787,  when 
the  United  States  gained  possession,  with  General 
Arthur  St.  Clair  as  commandant  at  the  fort.  In 
1812  the  British  regained  the  fort,  and  for  a  short 
time  held  it.  In  1813  it  passed  again  into  American 
hands,  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  Detroit  has 
been  included  in  the  domain  of  the  republic,  growing 
in  due  time  into  one  of  the  most  attractive  of  Amer- 
ican cities. 

Cincinnati  aifords  an  example  among  cities  on  the 
territory  now  under  view,  of  deliberate  colonization. 
It  was,  indeed,  early  a  military  post,  as  Fort  Wash- 
ington, yet  the  occupation  of  the  site  chosen  for  a  town 
seems  to  have  been  more  a  formal  and  deliberate  one 
than  in  either  of  the  other  instances  named.  A  colony 
from  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  in  1789,  first 
broke  ground  for  the  city,  which  in  due  time  came  to 
be  known  as  the  ''  Queen  City  of  the  West."  The 
introduction  of  steam  naviiration  on  the  Ohio  River 


EARLY    TIMES    IN    THE    WEST  19 

supplied  a  marked  impulse  to  trade  and  enterprise,  so 
that  C'incinnati  was  one  of  the  first  of  Western  cities 
to  acquire  renown  as  a  center  of  Western  growth  and 
power. 

Chicago,  even  as  a  military  post,  is  of  more  recent 
date  than  either  Detroit  or  Cincinnati.  It  was  more 
than  a  hundred  years  later  than  the  original  French 
occupation  of  what  is  now  Detroit  that,  in  1804,  Fort 
Dearborn  was  erected  where  Chicago  now  stands.  As 
in  the  case  of  Detroit,  a  population  soon  began  to 
collect  around  the  military  post  thus  created,  and 
although  in  1812  Fort  Dearborn  was  taken  by  the 
Indians,  and  the  soldiers,  with  several  inhabitants  of 
the  place,  massacred,  still  the  site  was  not  abandoned. 
The  fort  was  again  occupied,  a  town  plat  surveyed  in 
]  829,  and  since  that  time  the  growth  has  been  constant. 
During  the  last  half-century,  indeed,  such  has  been  its 
rapidity  as  to  make  Chicago  a  marvel  in  this  respect 
among  cities  of  either  the  old  world  or  the  new. 

The  French  occupation  at  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  and 
other  points  in  the  southern  section  of  what  was  at 
the  time  a  part  of  Virginia,  but  is  now  Illinois,  has 
already  been  mentioned,  but  should  be  more  partic- 
ularly noticed  in  this  connection.  In  1778  Kaskaskia, 
and  the  M-hole  region  of  which  it  was  the  center,  was 
M'on  from  the  French  by  Colonel  George  Rogers 
Clark.  Of  those  who  w^ere  with  him  in  these  military 
undertakings,  several  made  choice  of  the  region  about 
Kaskaskia  as  a  home,  and  settled  there.  Besides 
these,   the  first  to  become  a  permanent  settler  was 


20      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Captain  Nathaniel  Hull,  from  Massacbn setts.  "  Aside 
from  the  members  of  Clark's  command,"  says  Judge 
Moses,  "  some  of  whom  doubtless  remained  contin- 
uously in  the  country,"  Captain  Hull  "  was  the  first 
original  immigrant,"  his  arrival  occurring  apparently 
somewhere  about  1780.  In  the  following  year  a  party 
of  immigrants  arrived  from  Maryland.  In  1783 
more  of  Clark's  old  soldiers  found  permanent  homes 
on  the  scene  of  their  recent  conquest,  and  in  1786 
several  immigrants  from  Virginia  arrived,  among 
them  James  Lemen  and  his  family,  so  conspicuous 
among  early  Illinois  Baptists. 

The  first  mention  in  history  of  Milwaukee,  as  far 
as  we  can  ascertain,  is  in  the  report  of  an  officer  in 
the  United  States  engineers.  Lieutenant  Sarrow,  in 
1817.  It  is  spoken  of  by  him  as  "a  Pottawatomie 
village  lying  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Milwaukee 
River  at  its  confluence  with  the  lake."  An  attempt 
at  French  settlement  farther  north,  at  Green  Bay,  had 
been  made  in  1639.  It  shared  the  fate,  however,  of 
many  other  such  attempts.  The  beginnings  of  Mil- 
waukee, nevertheless,  were  of  the  same  nationality, 
the  first  white  man  to  make  a  home  on  the  present 
site  of  that  now  flourishing  city  being  Solomon 
Juneau,  a  French  fur  trader,  who  located  there  in 
1825.  He  lived  to  become,  at  a  later  day,  the  first 
mayor  of  the  city  which  had  grown  up  where  his  own 
humble  cabin  originally  stood.  In  1835  Milwaukee 
was  laid  out  and  organized  as  a  village,  the  lake  com- 
merce and   other   favoring    conditions   developing    it 


EARLY    TIxMES    IN    THE    WEST  21 

rapidly  to  city  proportions,  with  a  question  of  rivalry 
in  growth  and  claim  to  consideration  between  it  and 
Chicago  which,  even  forty  years  ago,  was  yet  unsettled. 
In  point  of  beauty  of  location  it  still  is  far  in  the 
ascendency,  while  in  general  attractiveness  it  has  few 
equals  among  Western  cities. 

For  purposes  of  this  history  we  have  only  occasion 
to  notice,  in  this  place,  further,  and  that  briefly,  the 
order  in  which  the  five  States  under  view  attained 
first  to  territorial  organization,  and  then  at  last  to 
Statehood.  It  was  in  1783,  in  the  treaty  with  Great 
Britain  at  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Eevolution, 
that  what  was  then  designated  as  the  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory was  confirmed  to  the  United  States.  As  this 
vast  region  became  occupied  by  permanent  settlers, 
lociil  government  was  at  once  a  necessity.  The  first 
application  to  Congress  with  this  in  view,  appears  to 
have  been  by  those  who  had  settled  in  Kaskaskia, 
Illinois. ^  On  July  13,  1787,  what  is  styled  the  ordi- 
nance of  1787,  making  provision  for  the  organization 
of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  became  a  law.  Of 
this,  as  quoted  by  Judge  Moses,^  Chief  Justice  Chase 
once  said  :  "  Never,  probably,  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  did  a  measure  of  legislation  so  accurately 
fulfill  and  yet  so  mightily  exceed  the  anticipations  of 
the  legislators.  It  has  been  well  described  as  having 
been  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night  in 
the  settlement  and  government  of  the  Northwestern 
States.^'  That  feature  in  the  ordinance  which  has 
'  "Illinois,  Historical  and  Statistical,"  Vol.  I.,  p.  187. 


22      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

been  most  conspicuous  in  the  history,  not  only  of  the 
Northwest,  but  of  the  whole  land  as  well,  is  that 
which  declares  that  after  the  year  1800  there  should 
be  in  the  States  to  be  formed  out  of  thi.s  territory 
"  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  otherwise 
than  in  punishment  of  crime  whereof  the  party  shall 
have  been  duly  convicted." 

First  of  what  are  now  the  five  States  east  of  the 
Mississippi  to  bo  organized  as  distinct  territories  were 
Indiana  and  Ohio.  The  latter  was  set  off  as  a  Terri- 
tory in  1800,  that  portion  of  the  general  domain  west 
and  north  of  it  being  organized  as  Indiana.  From  this 
latter  Illinois  was  in  like  manner  set  off  in  1809,  and 
Michigan  in  1824.  Wisconsin  was  at  first  included 
in  Illinois,  but  wdien  Illinois  attained  to  State  organ- 
ization, Wisconsin  became  part  of  Michigan  Territory. 
In  1836  Wisconsin  itself  acquired  a  territorial  govern- 
ment, being  made,  for  the  time,  to  include  what  are 
now  the  States  of  Minnesota  and  Iowa,  with  a  part  of 
the  Dakotas. 

First  of  these  several  territories  to  be  admitted 
into  the  Union  as  a  State,  with  the  present  boun- 
daries, was  Ohio  in  1802  ;  next,  Indiana,  1816  ;  fol- 
lowing this,  Illinois  in  1818  ;  then  Michigan  in  1837  ; 
and  Wisconsin  in  1848. 

This  outline  view  of  history  on  the  field  of  our 
present  study  seemed  necessary  as  preliminary  to  the 
main  purpose.  The  field  as  a  whole  is  imperial  in 
its  proportions,  even  though  but  a  single  section  of 
the  republic  of  which  it  forms  a  part.     During  the 


EARLY   TIMES   IN   THE   WEST  23 

century  of  time  elapsing  since  the  first  beginning  of 
Baptist  history  within  these  States,  most  surprising 
changes  are  seen,  with  development  in  all  elements  of 
civilized  life  riv^aling  what  can  be  recorded  of  any 
other  portion  of  the  Union — a  growth  in  material 
wealth,  in  political  influence,  in  social  and  intellectual 
culture,  and  in  position  as  among  States  of  the 
republic,  such  as  has  fully  justified  the  sanguine  pre- 
dictions of  those  by  whom  the  foundations  were  laid 
and  the  first  stones  of  the  superstructure  put  in  place. 
The  story  of  Baptist  beginning  and  growth  on  this 
field  is  to  occupy  us  in  the  pages  that  follow. 


CHAPTER  II 

FIRST   ON   THE   FIELD — IN    OHIO   AND    ILLINOIS    " 

AMONG  the  victories  achieved  in  the  course  of 
history  by  human  hardihood,  courage,  and  re- 
source, victory  over  the  wilderness,  and  the  stern  con- 
ditions of  life  inevitable  therein,  is  by  no  means  the 
least.  Nor  is  it  alone  in  the  mastery  of  that  which 
taxes  physical  energy  and  endurance,  that  character 
and  capacity  are  under  such  circumstances  put  to  the 
test.  So  soon  as  the  cabin  of  the  pioneer  becomes  a 
group  of  such,  or  on  the  arrival  of  a  colony  at  the  spot 
where  their  new  homes  are  to  be,  society  begins.  As 
others  arrive,  as  settlements  increase,  and  progress  is 
made  toward  those  conditions  which  call  for  political 
organization,  law,  and  rule,  during  all  this  nascent 
period  there  is  occasion  for  the  exercise  of  those 
same  qualities  of  character  which  in  older  commun- 
ities win  for  their  possessors  position  and  fame.  It  may 
be  the  lot  of  leaders  in  the  founding  and  organiza- 
tion of  society  under  such  circumstances  as  are  here 
supposed,  never  to  be  widely  known.  They  may  live 
and  die  in  comparative  obscurity.  Yet  when  in  a 
search  among  the  perhaps  forgotten  annals  of  a  new 
community  one  comes  upon  traces  of  men  like  these 
here  in  question,  he  may  often  have  occasion  to  feel 
24 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  25 

afresh  how  little  after  all,  in  comparison,  of  the 
world's  worth  ever  comes  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
world  itself. 

We  have  here  to  write  chiefly  of  the  pioneer  min- 
ister. It  is  a  type  of  ministerial  character  richly 
deserving  of  study,  both  for  what  it  is  in  itself,  and 
for  the  sake  of  its  lessons  for  those  whose  work  in  the 
ministry  may  be  very  differently  conditioned  and  which 
yet  must  be  always  substantially  the  same.  In  order 
that  what  we  have  in  hand  may  be  rightly  and  clearly 
apprehended,  it  is  important  to  bear  in  mind  that  what 
we  term  pioneer  work  at  the  present  time  is  after  all 
much  unlike,  in  certain  important  particulars,  what 
the  same  form  of  service  was  when  these  now  pop- 
ulous and  flourishing  States  were  still  a  wilderness. 
While  it  is  true  that  one  who  now  chooses  his  field  of 
labor  upon  some  frontier,  has  hardships,  discourage- 
ments, and  possibly  even  dangers  to  face,  he  still  for 
the  most  part  finds  himself  located  in  a  community 
where  there  are  at  least  the  begiimings  of  social  order 
and  possibilities  of  speedy  attainment  in  all  that  is 
most  to  be  desired  where  a  home  is  to  be  made  and 
work  to  be  done.  He  travels  to  his  field  by  a  speedy 
aud  comfortable  mode  of  conveyance.  He  is  in  ready 
communication  with  those  he  has  left  beliind,  and  can 
always  feel  that  in  emergencies  sympathy  and  help 
are  within  ready  reach,  even  should  there  be  the  in- 
tervention of  hundreds  of  miles  of  distance.  How 
different  were  all  these  conditions  in  the  case  of  those 
men  of  whom  we  have  here  to  write,  will  of  course 


2G       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

be  readily  divined,  vet  can  be  quite  realized  only  as 
studied  in  at  least  a  measure  of  detail.  The  story  is 
worth  the  telling,  if  only  in  order  that  men  whose 
names  and  whose  memory  have  already  grown  so  dim 
may  come  once  more  into  the  light  and  be  seen  in  some 
degree  for  what  they  were. 

In  three  of  the  five  States  with  which  this  narrative 
is  concerned,  Baptist  history  begins  very  nearly  at  the 
same  date:  Ohio,  in  1790;  Illinois,  1790;  Indiana, 
1798.  Of  churches  planted  at  these  dates  we  shall  speak 
more  particularly  later  on.  At  present  our  principal 
subject  is  the  men  whose  names  are  most  prominently 
identified  with  these  beginnings.  The  scene  of  the 
very  first  of  such  beginnings,  the  opening  page  in  a 
history  whose  record  is  now  so  full,  was  what  is  now 
ihe  site  of  Cincinnati.  We  shall  quote  here,  what 
may  be  taken  as  an  authentic  entry  on  the  initial  leaf 
of  \yestern  Baptist  history. 

It  was  on  the  18th  of  November,  1788,  that  a  company  of 
twenty-three  men,  some  of  them  hardly  grown,  three  women 
and  two  children  (the  oldest  only  five  years  of  age)  landed 
from  the  flatboat  on  which  they  had  floated  down  from  Pitts- 
burg and  began  to  erect  the  cabins  in  which  they  proposed 
to  spend  the  winter,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  other  relatives — 
fathers  and  mothers,  and  wives  and  children — in  the  spring. 
Most  of  these  people  had  come  from  Essex  county.  New 
Jersey,  and  several  of  them  had  been  members  of  the  old 
Scotch  Plains  Bai^tist  Church,  from  which  the  First  Baptist 
Church  of  New  York  City  had  been  organized,  and  of  which 
Rev.  John  (iaiio,  noted  for  having  been  among  the  most  effi- 
cient and  influential  chaplains  in  the  army  of  the  Revolution, 
had  been  pastor.      The  leader  of  that  company  of  pioneers 


FIRST    OX    THE    FIELD  27 

was  Major  Benjamin  Stites,  who  afterward  became  so  promi- 
nent as  a  member  of  the  first  church  (as  founded  by  these 
pioneers),  and  among  them  were  John  Gano  and  wife,  the 
husband  a  son  of  the  John  Gano  above  mentioned.^ 

''  This  first  settlement  on  Ohio  soil  was,"  says  an- 
other authority/  "  made  in  perilous  times.  The  In- 
dians made  every  exertion  to  cut  them  off  and  prevent 
their  settlement.  They  tried  by  many  stratagems  to 
decoy  them  ashore  on  their  passage  down  the  river, 
and  after  their  settlement  were  continually  lurking  to 
destroy  them."  It  was  history  on  the  Atlantic  coast, 
a  century  and  a  half  earlier,  repeating  itself  on  the 
shores  of  the  Ohio.  In  this  case,  as  in  that  of  the 
first  settlement  of  New  England,  "  several  fell  victims 
to  the  rage  of  their  savage  foes."  There  being  no 
Baptist  preacher  of  their  number,  they  "set  up  meet- 
ing among  themselves,  which  they  conducted  in  turn." 
Two  years  later,  in  1790,  Rev.  Stephen  Gano  visited 
them,  baptized  three  persons,  and  formed  the  little 
company  into  a  church.  This  was  the  Columbia 
Church,  whose  site  is  now  included  in  that  of  Cin- 
cinnati, and  as  mentioned  in  the  editorial  above 
quoted,  "  the  first  Christian  church  in  all  the  terri- 
tory north  and  wesi  of  the  Ohio  River." 

1  We  quote  from  an  editorial  in  the  "Journal  and  Messenger," 
Cincinnati,  of  July,  1889,  describing  the  dedication  of  a  monu- 
ment erected  during  the  year  previous  upon  the  site  of  the  first 
Baptist  meeting-house  in  Ohio,  at  what  is  now  Cincinnati,  and 
built  by  the  church  whose  early  organization  is  mentioned  in  the 
text. 

2  Benedict's  "History  of  the  Baptists,"  article  "  Ohio." 


28       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTEEN  STATES 

A  monument  commemorative  of  these  events  was 
in  1889  erected,  by  "  Tiie  Columbia  Monument  Asso- 
ciation," upon  tlie  site  of  tlie  first  house  of  worsliip 
built  by  this  church.  The  house  as  described  was 
two  stories  high,  providing  for  a  gallery,  and  built 
of  hewn  logs.  Tlie  inscription  now  read  upon  the 
monument  as  erected  and  dedicated  in  1889,  perpetu- 
ates suitably  the  initial  record  in  Western  Baptist  his- 
tory.    On  the  side  flxcing  the  north  : 

To  the  Pioneers  who  Landed  Near  this  Spot,  November 

18,  1788. 

On  the  opposite  side  are  the  names,  twenty-seven 
in  all,  of  "  the  first  boat  load."  On  the  west  side  is 
the  following  : 

The  Baptists  of  Columbia  Township,  in  1889,  erect  this 
pillar  to  commemorate  the  heroism  and  piety  of  the  Baptist 
pioneers  of  1788-90.  The  first  chm-cli  organized  in  the 
Northwest  Territory  was  the  Columbia  Baptist  Church,  or- 
ganized January  20,  1790.  Constituent  members  :  Benjamin 
Davis,  Mary  Davis,  John  Ferris,  Elizabeth  Ferris,  Joshua 
Reynolds,  Amy  Reynolds,  John  S.  Gano,  Thomas  C.  Wade  ; 
Isaac  Ferris,  Deacon. 

The  east  side  inscription  is  as  follows  : 

The  Columbia  Baptist  Church  erected  its  first  house  of 
worship  on  this  spot  in  1792.  The  lot  contained  two  acres  of 
ground  purchased  of  Benjamin  Stites,  and  was  deeded  to  the 
Baptists  of  Columbia  Township — Because  the  Lord  our  God 
hath  chosen  this  spot  to  put  his  name  there,  therefore  we 
arect  this  monument,  to  be  held  sacred  forever. 

THE    COLUMBIA   BAPTIST  ASSOCIATION. 


FIKST    ON    THE    FIELD  29 

The  dedication  of  the  monument  occurred  on  July 
4,  1889,  the  principal  address  upon  the  occasion  being 
delivered  by  Galusha  Anderson,  s.  t.  d.,  ll.  d.^  then 
president  of  Denison  University. 

Additional  particulars  in  this  connection  are  sup- 
plied in  notes  furnished  us  by  Rev.  Daniel  Shepard- 
son,  D.  D.,  of  Granville,  Ohio,  and  from  which  we 
take  the  following : 

The  first  Baptist  cluirch  iu  the  Northwestern  Territory  was 
constituted  iu  Columbia, -five  miles  from  Cincinnati,  January 
20,  1790,  at  the  house  of  Benjamin  Davis.  It  consisted  of 
nine  members,  and  three  more  were  received  for  baptism,  and 
were  baptized  next  day  by  Rev.  Stephen  Gano,  afterward  of 
Providence,  R.  I.  As  he  had  a  brother  in  the  little  church, 
they  hoped  he  would  consent  to  come  West  and  be  their 
pastor.     He  was  elected  unanimously,  but  declined. 

The  next  May  the  church  chose  Rev.  John  Smith  to  be 
their  i^astor.  He  was  a  Virginian,  a  very  able,  talented  man, 
an  excellent  orator,  whose  voice  could  be  heard  at  a  great  dis- 
tance in  the  open  air,  and  thus  admirably  adapted  to  a  new 
country.  He  was  everywhere  heard  gladly.  For  several 
years  he  was  very  useful,  till  he  became  involved  in  politics, 
the  great  mistake  of  his  life,  as  he  himself  admitted.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  convention  for  the  adoption  of  a  State 
constitution  for  Ohio,  and  one  of  its  first  senators  in  Con- 
gress. He  became  intimately  acquainted  with  Aaron  Burr, 
and  entertained  him  for  a  week  or  more  at  his  home  in  Cin- 
cinnati. When  Burr  was  suspected  of  treason,  suspicion  fell 
also  upon  Smith.  He  was  tried  in  the  Senate,  and  although 
not  proved  guilty,  there  were  so  many  against  him,  that  he 
resigned.  In  1808  he  left  Cincinnati  for  Louisiana,  where  he 
lived  in  obscurity  for  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  till  his  death. 
Some  of  his  enemies  were  bitter  persecutors,  but  those  who 
knew  him  best  had  great  confidence  in  him. 


,30       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  AVESTERN  STATES 

Associated  ^\ith  the  name  of  John  Smith  is  tliat  of 
James  Lee,  also  a  Viririnian  by  birth.  He  was  less 
distinguished,  but  still  a  man  of  marked  personality. 
Dr.  Shepardson  says  of  him  : 

He  could  not  read  even  when  of  age,  but  seemed  evidently 
called  of  God  to  preach  the  gospel.  He  had  hardly  heard  a 
sermon  till  his  majority,  but  was  soon  after  licensed  to  preach 
by  some  church  in  Kentucky.  In  an  excursion  through  the 
Miami  country  he  called  upon  Elder  Smith  on  Saturday,  and 
on  their  way  to  church  Sunday  morning,  Elder  Smith  learned 
that  he  was  a  preacher,  and  urged  him  to  preach,  though 
having  been  traveling  for  several  weeks  he  was  in  no  condition 
to  appear  in  a  pulpit.  But  he  yielded  to  entreaty  and  ven- 
tured to  speak  to  the  people  both  morning  and  evening.  This 
was  God's  introduction  for  his  servant  to  some  twenty -five 
years  of  usefulness  in  the  Miami  Association. 

Another  of  these  pioneers  mentioned  by  Dr.  Shep- 
ardson, is  Daniel  Chirk,  ''a  plain,  good  man  from 
Pennsvlvania."  He  preached  for  the  Columbia 
Church  some  five  years,  in  connection  with  John 
Smith.  In  the  spring  of  1792  the  house  of  worship 
was  built,  as  already  mentioned.  "  The  worship- 
ers were  obliged  to  go  armed  to  the  house  of 
God,  through  fear  of  the  Indians.  The  next  year 
two  of  their  number,  Francis  Grifiin  and  David  Jen- 
nings, were  murdered  by  the  savages;  nor  was  there 
any  safety  till  Wayne's  victory  and  the  treaty  of 
Greenville,  in  1794  and  1795.  From  that  time  set- 
tlements were  made  back  from  the  river,  and  churches 
were  formed  in  many  places."  To  such  as  those 
already  named  of  ministers  first  upon  the  ground  in 


FIEST    OX    THE    FIELD  31 

Ohio,  mij^ht  be  added  in  the  record  wc  make,  such 
faithful  and  efficient  men  as  Stephen  Gard,  John 
Curbly,  James  Sutton,  Ezra  Ferris,  William  Jones,  a 
native  of  Wales,  Alexander  Denniston,  at  one  time  a 
pastor  in  Cincinnati,  Wilson  Thompson,  of  whom 
there  will  be  more  to  say  at  a  later  stage  in  this  his- 
tory, Benjamin  Stites,  "  only  son  of  Major  Benjamin 
Stites,  the  original  proprietor  of  Columbia,"  Samuel 
Eastman,  who  was  also  one  of  the  earlier  ministers  in 
Cincinnati,  and  S.  W.  Lynd,  of  whose  marked  use- 
fulness as  pastor  of  the  Ninth  Street  Baptist  Church, 
in  Cincinnati,  during  fifteen  years,  1830-1845,  more 
particular  mention  will  be  made  hereafter. 

Of  the  laymen  wlio  shared  fully  with  this  pioneer 
ministry  in  the  responsibilities  and  labors  inseparable 
from  such  beginnings,  two  at  least  should  have  a 
place  in  this  record,  Judge  Francis  Dunlevy  and 
Judge  Matthias  Corwin.  These  two  men  were  asso- 
ciated with  Rev.  Daniel  Clark  in  the  church  at 
Lebanon  as  early  as  1798.  "Francis  Dunlevy  was 
one  of  the  early  Baptists  in  the  Northwestern  Terri- 
tory, and  in  the  pioneer  history  of  the  territory  ac- 
tively shared.  He  became  a  member  of  the  Colum- 
bia Church  in  1792  ;  was  one  of  the  conference  which 
took  the  first  steps  toward  organizing  tlie  Miami  As- 
sociation and,  it  was  said  long  after,  drew  up  the  arti- 
cles of  faith  agreed  upon  by  the  Association.  He  con- 
tinued an  active  member  of  the  church  in  the  Miami 
Valley  until  his  death,  November  6,  1839,  a  period 
of  forty-seven  years,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the 


32       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Baptist  church  some  five  or  six  years  previous  to  his 
uniting  with  the  Cohimbia  Church."  ^ 

The  ancestors  of  Judge  Dunlevy  had  been  among 
the  sufferers  from  persecution  for  conscience'  sake  in 
Spain,  where  the  family  originated,  and  in  France.  The 
father  of  Judge  Dunlevy  came  from  Ireland  in  1745, 
settling  near  Winchester,  in  Virginia.  The  parents 
were  Presbyterians  of  the  rigid  sort,  but  the  son  be- 
came a  Baptist  as  a  result  of  personal  study  of  the 
New  Testament.  Educated  at  Dickinson  College, 
Virginia,  for  the  ministry,  he  became  later  doubtful 
of  his  call  to  that  service — although  evidently  en- 
dowed with  gifts  which  might  have  ensured  a  success- 
ful career — and  after  teaching  a  classical  school  in 
Virginia,  and  residence  for  a  short  period  later  in 
Kentucky,  he  came  in  1792  to  Ohio,  making  his  first 
home  at  Columbia.  A  member  of  the  first  Legisla- 
ture in  the  Northwest  Territory,  a  member  also  of  the 
first  State  Legislature,  after  Ohio  became  a  State,  he 
was  chosen  in  due  time  presiding  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas,  "  whose  circuit  included  at  that 
time  all  the  Miami  Valley  from  Hamilton  and  Cler- 
mont counties  on  the  south  to  Miami  and  Champaign 
on  the  north.  Here  he  served  as  judge  fourteen 
years,  and  though  he  had  at  that  time  to  cross  both 
Miamis  at  every  season  of  the  year,  then  without  any 
bridges,  in  all  that  time  he  never  missed  more  than 
one  court.     He  often  swam  these  rivers  on  horseback 

1  "  History  of  the  Miami  Association,"  by  A.  H.  Dunlevy,  pp. 
147,  148. 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  33 

wben  very  few  others  would  have  ventured  to  cross 
them." 

To  men  of  the  stamp  of  Judge  Dunlevy,  scarcely  if 
at  all  less  than  to  the  hardy  and  resolute  ministry  of 
the  time,  Baptists  of  the  West  are  indebted  for  the 
wise  and  sure  way  in  which  foundations  were  laid. 
Intimately  associated  with  him,  and  a  man  of  like 
spirit  and  worth,  was  Judge  Matthias  Corwin,  who 
came  to  Ohio  from  Kentucky  in  1798.  The  name 
was  originally  Corvinus,  and  Matthias  Corvinus,  of 
Hungary,  notable  in  Hungarian  history,  is  supposed 
to  have  been  of  his  ancestry.  To  excellent  capacity 
for  public  service,  as  member  of  the  State  Legisla- 
ture and  associate  judge  of  Common  Pleas,  Judge 
Corwin  joined  peculiar  fidelity  in  the  church  at 
Lebanon,  where  he  held  his  membership  from  the 
time  of  his  arrival  in  the  State  till  his  death  in  1829, 
a  period  of  thirty-one  years.  "  When  at  home  he 
was  always  at  his  post;  and  so  constant  was  his  at- 
tendance upon  meetings  of  the  church  that  if  he  was 
missed  at  any  time,  wlien  at  home,  it  was  known  that 
something. unusual  had  detained  him.  He  was  fre- 
quently one  of  the  messengers  of  the  church  in  the 
Association,  often  a  messenger  of  the  Association  to 
some  corresponding  body,  and  on  several  occasions 
was  appointed  to  prepare  circular  and  corresponding 
letters  of  the  Association  as  well  as  the  letter  of  his 
own  church."  ^ 

A  name  found  often  in  earlier  records  of  the  de- 

1  "  History  of  the  Miami  Association,"  pp.  159,  160. 
C 


34      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

nomination  in  Ohio,  is  that  of  Ilev.  Hezekiah  Johnson, 
father  of  Professor  Franklin  Johnson,  D.  D,,  of  the  Di- 
vinity School,  University  of  Chicago.  A  native  of 
Maryland,  he  was  born  in  1799.  From  Maryland 
he  came  in  early  life  to  Kentucky,  and  from  that 
State  to  Ohio,  where  he  was  converted,  and  in  1824 
was  ordained  to  the  ministry  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five.  His  pastorates  in  Ohio  were  at  Frankfort, 
Greenfield,  and  other  points,  while  also,  as  in  the  case 
of  all  enterprising  preachers  at  that  date,  traveling 
and  preaching  much  in  destitute  sections  of  the  State. 
As  his  son  says  of  him,  "  He  loved  the  border ;  he 
loved  to  lay  foundations,  and  when  his  work  of  this 
kind  seemed  to  be  done  in  one  State,  he  removed  to 
the  farthest  West,  till  he  reached  the  Pacific  Ocean." 
It  was  under  this  kind  of  impulse  that  in  1839  he 
removed  to  Iowa,  as  one  of  the  first  missionaries  of 
the  Home  Mission  Society  on  that  field,  and  in  1 845 
to  Oregon,  in  company  with  Rev.  Ezra  Fisher,  like 
himself  under  appointment  of  the  society,  making 
his  home  in  Oregon  City,  where  he  died  in  1866.  He 
was  a  man  of  remarkable  activity,  interested  in  all 
the  great  questions  of  his  time  and  publishing  much 
in  the  interest  of  religion  and  reform. 

"We  find  ]Mr.  Johnson  active  in  Ohio  Baptist  affairs 
very  soon  after  his  ordination.  Ho  was  one  of  those 
who  entered  most  heartily  into  all  the  purposes  of  the 
State  Convention,  upon  its  organization  in  1826.  He 
made  rapid  progress  in  power  as  a  preacher,  and 
when  he  left  Ohio  was  perhaps  the  most  influential 


FIRST    OX    THE    FIELD  35 

miuister  of  the  denomination  in  that  State.  He  was 
otten  called  into  service  as  preacher  at  anniversaries  of 
the  State  Convention  and  of  his  own  Association. 
"  In  person,"  writes  Dr.  Franklin  Johnson,  "  he  was 
rather  below  the  medinm  height,  with  a  very  large 
head  covered  with  abundant  hair  which  early  became 
gray.  His  eyes  were  gray,  and  of  brilliant  light, 
though  far  sunken  under  his  brow.  His  nose  was 
aquiline,  and  his  mouth  compressed  with  firmness. 
His  voice  was  musical  and  trumpet-toned,  and  capable 
of  carrying  to  a  very  great  distance  either  in  the 
house  or  out  of  doors,  where  it  was  often  used  in 
public  speaking."  We  shall  have  more  to  say  of  him 
in  connection  with  the  agitation  of  such  subjects  as 
missions,  temperance,  and  anti-slavery  in  the  early 
days  of  Ohio. 

Two  brothers,  Rev.  George  C.  Sedwick  and  E-ev. 
William  Sedwick,  are  to  be  mentioned  among  those 
earliest  in  positions  of  prominence  as  connected  with 
Baptist  aifairs  in  Ohio.  They  were  both  natives 
of  Maryland,  born  in  Calvert  County  in  that  State, 
the  former  in  1785,  the  latter  in  1790.  They  were 
of  Episcopal  parentage,  but  became  Baptists  in  early 
life.  George  C.  Sedwick,  having  decided  to  enter  the 
ministry,  studied  at  Philadelphia  under  Dr.  William 
Staughton,  and  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  the  Hart- 
wood  Church,  in  Virginia.  In  1820  he  removed  to 
Ohio,  being  strongly  attracted  by  prospects  of  service 
on  new  fields.  His  home  he  made  at  Zanesville, 
where  in  1821  the  First  Baptist  Church  was  organized 


36      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

imder  his  ministry.  Mr.  Sedwick's  name  is  notable 
in  Ohio  Baptist  history  by  reason  of  the  fact  that 
work  in  that  State,  under  auspices  of  this  denomina- 
tion, alike  in  education  and  in  journalism,  began  with 
him.  While  pastor  at  Zanesville  he  founded  a  school 
which  came  into  some  prominence  at  the  time  Baptist 
educational  policy  in  the  State  was  under  considera- 
tion. He  also  published  a  monthly  paper,  named 
"  The  Baptist  Miscellany,"  which  appears  to  have 
been  tlie  beginning  of  Bantist  journalism  in  Ohio. 
He  was,  besides,  the  first  corresponding  secretary  of 
the  Ohio  Baptist  State  Convention,  organized  in  1826. 

Rev.  William  Sedwick  was  ordained  pastor  of  the 
Bethel  Baptist  Church,  Virginia,  in  1821,  having 
had  a  short  previous  pastorate  at  the  Navy  Yard 
Churcli,  in  Washington,  D.  C,  Three  years  later 
than  his  brother,  in  1823,  he  removed  to  Ohio,  mak- 
ing his  home  at  Cambridge  in  tliat  State.  Here,  like 
his  brother  at  Zanesville,  he  organized  a  church,  and 
also  taught  a  school.  We  find  his  name,  subsequently, 
in  connection  with  churches  at  Salt  Lake,  Brookfield, 
McConnellsville,  Adamsville,  and  also  at  Zanesville, 
where  he  succeeded  his  brother  in  1837.  Both  these 
men  were  held  in  high  esteem  and  greatly  trusted  by 
their  brethren.  Their  place  in  denominational  affairs 
in  Ohio,  especially  in  the  early  days,  was  prominent 
and  influential. 

Among  other  names  recorded  on  early  pages  in  the 
history  of  Ohio  Baptists,  we  find  that  of  Rev.  Hub- 
bell  Loomis,  who  died  at  Upper  Alton,  111.,  in  1872, 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  37 

in  the  ninety-eighth  year  of  his  age,  having  been 
born  in  Colchester,  Conn.,  in  1775.  Upon  his 
father's  side  he  was  a  descendant  of  Joseph  Loomis, 
who  came  from  England  to  tliis  country  in  1638. 
Mr.  Loomis  received  his  college  training  at  Union 
College,  Schenectady,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  and 
his  theological  training  under  Rev.  Joel  Benedict,  of 
Plainfield,  Conn.  Though  educated  a  Congrega- 
tionalist,  he  became  a  Baptist  while  pastor  of  the 
Congregational  Church  in  Willington,  Conn.,  where 
he  united  with  the  duties  of  his  pastorate,  those  of  a 
teacher,  Jared  Sparks,  afterward  so  well  known  as 
president  of  Harvard  College,  and  as  author  of  a 
"  Life  of  Washington,"  being  one  of  his  pupils.  In 
1830,  Mr.  Loomis  removed  to  Illinois,  but  we  find 
him  previously  active  for  a  short  time  in  Baptist 
affairs  in  Ohio,  both  religious  and  educational. 

The  stately  figure  of  E,ev.  John  Stevens  is  still,  as 
we  write,  full  in  the  memory  of  many  now  living. 
In  the  year  1831  we  find  him  prominent  among  Oiiio 
Baptists,  as  editor  of  "  The  Baptist  Weekly  Journal," 
a  paper  founded  by  him,  and  recognized  in  proceed- 
ings of  the  Baptist  State  Convention  as  denominational 
organ  for  the  State.  From  that  time  on  until  his  death 
at  Granville,  in  1877,  then  residing  with  his  son,  Prof. 
AV.  A.  Stevens,  he  was  among  the  foremost  in  promot- 
ing Baptist  enterprise  within  the  State,  while  also  in- 
fluential on  a  still  wider  scene  of  activity.  He  was 
born  in  Massachusetts,  in  1798,  graduating  at  Middle- 
bury  College,  Vt.,  in  1821.     For  two  years  he  served 


38       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

as  principal  of  the  Montpelier,  Vt.,  Academy,  becom- 
ing then  a  student  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary. 
In  1823  he  became  a  Baptist,  his  previous  connection 
having  been  with  the  Congregationalists,  and  was 
baptized  at  Salem,  by  Dr.  Lucius  Bolles.  In  Ohio 
he  had  a  large  share  m  the  founding  of  Granville  Col- 
lege, now  Denison  University,  where  he  became  pro- 
fessor of  jMoral  and  Intellectual  Philosophy  in  1838. 
As  Dr.  Jonathan  Going,  tlien  the  president  of  the  col- 
lege, was  active  in  the  general  interests  of  the  college, 
the  duties  of  the  presidency  fell  much  into  the  hands 
of  Prof.  Stevens.  Subsequent  spheres  of  service  filled 
by  him  were  as  district  secretary  of  the  American  Bap- 
tist Missionary  Union  in  the  States  of  Ohio  and  Ind- 
iana, secretary  of  the  Western  Baptist  Education 
Society,  and  professor  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  lan- 
guages in  Denison  University.  His  personality  was 
of  the  kind  to  be  powerfully  felt  in  whatever  sphere 
of  activity  may  have  engaged  him. 

Rev.  Timothy  H.  Cressey  was  a  native  of  Pomfret, 
Conn.,  born  in  1800.  Receiving  his  education  at 
Amherst  College  and  Andover  Theological  Seminary, 
he  came  to  Ohio  in  1835,  so  fulfilling  a  long- felt 
desire  to  devote  his  life  to  service  on  some  Western 
field.  His  first  settlement  was  with  the  church  at 
Columbus,  where  under  his  ministry  a  house  of  wor- 
ship was  built.  After  seven  }'ears  service  here,  he 
was  engaged  two  years  as  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Ciiurch,  Cincinnati,  leaving  this  post  to  become  agent 
of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  in  Ohio, 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  39 

Kentucky,  and  Indiana.  In  184G  he  removed  to 
Indiana,  becoming  pastor  of  the  church  in  Indian- 
apolis, actively  engaged  meanwhile,  besides  the  erec- 
tion of  a  house  of  worship,  in  labor  as  corresponding 
secretary  of  the  State  Convention,  and  as  a  trustee  of 
Franklin  College.  In  1852  he  removed  to  Minnesota, 
the  third  Baptist  minister  to  enter  that  new  Territory. 
After  a  pastorate  of  two  years  in  St.  Paul,  he  gave 
himself  up  to  work  more  thoroughly  missionary  in 
character,  traveling  much  and  preaching  in  destitute 
places.  Two  years,  from  1861  on,  he  gave  to  his 
country  as  chaplain  of  the  second  regiment  of  Minne- 
sota volunteers ;  having  his  home  and  work,  later,  in 
Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Iowa,  and  dying  at  Des  Moines 
in  1870,  at  the  home  of  his  son  in  that  city.  It  had 
been  an  active  life,  with  deep  and  lasting  impressions 
left  in  Western  Baptist  history.  His  second  wife  Avas 
the  daughter  of  Dr.  Jonathan  Going,  to  whom  he  was 
married  while  pastor  at  Columbus,  Ohio. 

Among  Baptist  pioneers  in  Illinois  no  men  fill  a 
more  conspicuous  place,  or  in  their  personality  are 
more  notable  than  the  Lemen  father  and  brothers,  the 
former  of  whom  came  to  what  was  then  not  even  yet  a 
Territory  in  1786.  The  early  history  of  Baptists  in 
Illinois  centers  at  the  point  where  this  "  Lemen  family" 
made  its  home,  furnished,  in  the  father  of  the  family, 
the  most  prominent  person  in  the  group  of  first  candi- 
dates for  baptism,  and  founded  the  first  church  in  Illi- 
nois Territory,  organized  the  first  Association,  were 
leaders  in  anti-slavery  championship  years  before  the 


40       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

word  "  abolitionist  "  had  been  adopted  into  the  lan- 
guage, while  three  of  them  at  least  were  members  of  the 
State  Legislature,  adding  to  political  lea<lership  an 
active  zeal  in  the  Christian  ministry  yet  more  earnest 
and  persistent.  They  were  typical  pioneer  preachers, 
uniting  with  what  is  characteristic  of  such,  that  ad- 
venturous, ardent,  and  enterprising  spirit  M'hich  al- 
ways singles  out  the  leadei-s  of  a  new  community. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  with  tiie  Lemens  were 
associated  such  men  as  John  M.  Peck,  W.  F.  Boya- 
kin,  B.  B.  Hamilton,  Porter  C.  Clay,  half-brother 
of  Henry  Clay,  James  Pulliam,  Ebenezer  Rodgers, 
Samuel  Baker,  and  Joel  Sweet,  it  will  be  realized 
under  what  vigorous  auspices  the  denominational 
history  in  Illinois  began. 

Of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  the  father  of  this  family, 
James  Lemen,  Sr.,  was  born  in  Berkeley  county,  Vii'- 
ginia,  in  the  autumn  of  1758.  His  grandfather  had 
come  to  Virginia  from  the  north  of  Ireland.  His 
father  belonged  to  the  Church  of  England,  then 
dominant  in  Virginia.  James  himself  was  trained 
under  Presbyterian  influence,  his  father  dying  when 
the  son  was  but  a  year  old,  and  his  mother  marrying 
for  her  second  husband  a  strict  Presbyterian,  believed 
to  have  .been  named  John  Gibbons.  The  young  lad 
at  eighteen  years  of  age,  in  1777,  enlisted  in  the 
American  army  under  Washimrton,  and  going  North 
was  present  at  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  but  obtain- 
ing his  discharge  before  the  war  closed,  returned  to 
Virginia  and  made  himself  a  home  near  Wheeling, 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  41 

West  Virginia,  where,  in  1783,  be  married  Catherine 
Ogle.  Her  father  had  also  served  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  and  was  commissioned  captain,  as  one 
informant  states,'  in  June  1777,  by  Patrick  Henry. 
We  have  the  same  authority  for  saying  that  Mr. 
Lemeu  was  at  one  time  visited  "  by  an  agent  of 
Aaron  Burr,  in  the  interest  of  his  New  World's  em- 
pire, being  oifered  a  large  reward  for  his  co-operation. 
This  however  he  refused,  and  denounced  the  scheme 
as  disgraceful." 

In  his  home  near  Wheeling  Mr.  Lemen  became, 
though  not  himself  a  Baptist,  at  least  in  member- 
ship, in  some  way  associated  with  a  Baptist  preacher 
named  James  Torrence,  with  whom,  as  the  vigorous 
opponent  of  African  slavery,  originated  what  came  to 
be  called  "  the  Torrence  rule,"  and  which  played  a 
somewdiat  notable  part  in  the  early  Baptist  history 
of  Illinois.  The  "  rule  "  was  to  this  eifect :  "  African 
slavery  is  a  sin  against  God  and  humanity  ;  therefore 
no  slave-ow'ner  or  advocate  of  slavery  shall  be  allowed 
membership  in  this  church."  These  anti-slavery  con- 
victions appear  to  have  supplied,  with  Mr.  Lemen, 
some  considerable  part  of  the  motive  which  prompted 
a  lemoval  from  the  slave  State  of  Virginia,  to  what 
was  indeed  then  a  part  of  Virginia,  but  which  he  may 
have  hoped  might  some  day  be  in  this  respect  a  home 
better  suited  to  his  mind.  His  wife's  father.  Captain 
Joseph  Ogle,  had  already,  in  1785,  removed  to  that 

1  Mr.  James  P.   Lemen,   of  Hastings,   Minn.,   a  grandson  of 
James  Lemen  here  spoken  of 


42      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

part  of  the  Northwest  Territory  having  the  name  of 
Illinois,  where  the  French  settlement,  Kaskaskia,  had 
for  some  time  existed.  Tliither  James  Lemcn  fol- 
lowed in  the  spring  of  1786,  by  what  was  then,  in 
that  section  of  the  country,  the  only  practicable  mode 
of  travel  for  considerable  distances,  the  flatboat  down 
the  Ohio  to  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi,  and 
then  up  the  strong  current  of  the  mightier  river  to 
the  point  of  destination. 

One  incident  of  the  voyage  is  thus  related  :^  "The 
second  night  the  river  (the  Ohio)  fell  while  they  were 
tied  to  the  shore,  his  boat  lodged  on  a  stump,  careened 
and  sunk,  by  M'hich  accident  he  lost  his  provisions, 
chattels,  etc.  His  oldest  son,  Robert,  a  boy  three 
years  old,  floated  on  the  bed  on  which  he  lay,  which 
his  father  caught  by  the  corner,  and  so  saved  his  life. 
Though  left  destitute  of  provisions  and  other  neces- 
saries, James  Lemen  was  not  the  man  to  be  discour- 
aged. He  had  energy  and  perseverance" — and  he 
went  his  way  with  the  poor  remnant  of  his  earthly 
possessions  saved  from  the  wreck. 

The  new  home  of  "  the  Lemen  Family,"  with 
those  who  had  accompanied  them,  was  fixed  at  a 
place  which  received  the  significant  name  New  De- 
sign, in  that  section  of  the  present  State  of  Illinois 
where  Kaskaskia,  oldest  of  Illinois  towns,  stands, 
and  a  few  miles  southeast   of  Waterloo,  in  Monroe 

1  By  Rev.  B.  B.  Hamilton,  in  a  lecture  upon  "The  Lemen 
Family,"  written  and  delivered  by  request,  before  a  Ministers' 
Institute,  held  at  Upper  Alton,  111. 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  4Z 

County.*  Shortly  after  their  arrival  at  the  new  home, 
this  remote  colony  was  visited  by  a  Baptist  preacher, 
Rev.  James  Smith,  from  Kentucky.  From  him  the 
first  sermon  by  a  Baptist  preacher  in  what  is  now  Illi- 
nois was  heard.  Under  his  ministry  several  conver- 
sions occurred.  No  church  organization  was,  however, 
made,  and  the  preacher,  having  been  made  captive 
by  the  Indians,  on  his  release  returned  to  Kentucky. 
Religious  meetings,  nevertheless,  were  regularly  held, 
and  a  sermon  read,  when  no  preacher  could  be  had. 
One  of  the  number,  Shadrach  Bond,  afterward 
known  as  Judge  Bond,  most  often    officiated.     On 

1  In  "a  list  of  Capt.  Piggot's  Company  in  the  first  regiment  of 
militia  of  the  county  of  St  Clair,  the  26th  day  of  August,  1790," 
printed  in  a  historical  collection  entitled,  "Early  Cliicago  and 
Illinois,"  we  find  the  names  of  Nathaniel  Hull,  Shadrach  Bond, 
Sr.,  Isaac  Enix,  Josepli  Ogle  and  James  Lenien.  Of  Hull,  the 
editor  of  the  work  named  says,  in  a  note,  that  he  was  one  of  the 
first  Americans  in  Illinois.  He  was  a  noted  leader  in  Indian 
warfare,  and  in  1793,  commanded  a  party  of  eight  whites  who 
defeated  twice  their  number  of  red  men  in  a  desperate  conflict  at 
the  Big  Spring,  in  what  is  now  Monroe  county.  Of  Bond  it  is 
said:  "One  of  Clark's  (George  Kogers  Clark's)  soldiers,  came 
to  the  Illinois  in  1781,  was  a  member  of  the  territorial  legis- 
lature, judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  St.  Clair  county, 
and  uncle  of  Shadrach  Bond,  first  Governor  of  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois." Shadrach  Bond,  Sr.,  will  be  found  further  on  in  our 
narrative  to  have  become  later  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church 
at  New  Design.  Of  Isaac  Enix,  a  note  in  tlie  same  connection 
says:  "Probably  Isaac  Enochs,  a  Kentuckian,  celebrated  for 
his  contests  with  the  Indians,  and  as  the  first  convert  in  Illinois 
to  the  Baptist  persuasion."  Of  Joseph  Ogle  a  note  says  that 
"he  was  one  of  Nathaniel  Hull's  party  in  the  Indian  fight  at 
Big  Spring,  in  1791."  Of  James  Lemen,  "A  Virginian,  soldier 
of  the  Revolution,  one  of  Hull's  party  at  Big  Spring,  and  a 
leading  Baptist  preacher." 


44       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

one  of  these  occasions,  as  Dr.  J.  M.  Peck  informs  us, 
"in  December,  J 793,  or  January,  1794,  while  Judge 
Bond  was  officiating  in  this  informal  manner  on  the 
Sabbath,  a  stranger  came  into  the  meeting.  He  was 
a  large,  portly  man,  with  dark  hair,  a  florid  com- 
plexion and  regular  features.  His  dress  was  in 
advance  of  the  deerskin  hunting-shirt  and  Indian 
moccasins  of  the  settlers,  his  countenance  grave  and 
his  aspect  so  serious  that  the  mind  of  the  reader  was 
inspired  with  the  thought  he  was  a  Christian  man 
and  perhaps  a  preacher,  and  an  invitation  was  given 
him  to  close  the  exercises, '  if  he  was  a  praying  man.' 
The  stranger  knelt  and  made  an  impressive  and 
solemn  prayer." 

This  stranger  was  Rev.  Josiah  Dodge,  from  Nel- 
son county,  Kentucky,  on  a  visit  to  his  brother,  Dr. 
Israel  Dodge,  of  St.  Genevieve,  Mo.,  father  of  Henry 
Dodge,  in  later  years  Governor  of  Wisconsin.  Mr. 
Dodge  remained  for  some  time  in  the  settlement  and 
in  February,  the  ice  having  been  cut  in  Fountain 
Creek  near  by,  four  persons  were  baptized  by  him  : 
James  Lemen,  Catherine,  his  wife,  John  Gibbons,  and 
Isaac  Enoclis.  These  were  the  first  baptisms  in 
what  was  then  the  Territory  of  Illinois.  In  the 
spring  this  little  company  of  Baptists  was  visited  by 
Hev.  David  Badgeley,  from  Virginia.  Arriving 
early  in  May,  he  remained  until  the  close  of  the 
month.  Under  his  preaching  there  were  more  con- 
versions. Mr.  Joseph  Chance,  "  lay  elder,"  from 
Kentucky,  also  arrived  about  this  time.     By  these 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIKLD  45 

a  church  was  in  due  time,  at  some  date  in  the  year 
1796,  organized,  the  first  in  Illinois,  of  twenty-eight 
members. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  details  in  this  direction 
further  than  may  be  necessary  to  bring  into  clear  view 
the  conditions  under  which  the  Lemens,  father  and 
sons,  of  whom  we  here  mainly  write,  began  their 
work  as  preachers.  The  father,  soon  after  his  bap- 
tism, was  licensed  to  preach,  and  as  they  grew  up, 
five  of  his  six  sons,  James,  Josiah,  Moses,  Joseph, 
and  William,  also  became  preachers.  The  homestead 
then  made  is  still  standing,  says  Rev.  B.  B.  Hamil- 
ton, "  near  the  old  hill  road  between  Kaskaskia  and 
St.  Louis,  built  first  of  logs,  and  then  a  brick  wall 
on  the  outside,  which  made  a  singularly  strong  forti- 
fication." 

And  as  such  it  was  needed.  It  was  genuine  pio- 
neer life  which  these  first  Baptists  in  Illinois,  as  was 
equally  true  of  other  States,  were  called  to  lead.  One 
who  not  many  years  later  was  associated  with  them  in 
service,'  thus  describes  the  surroundings  amid  which 
they  lived:  "Many  a  family,  long  after  the  New 
Design  was  settled,  was  exterminated,  tomahawked, 
and  scalped  by  the  Indians.  The  cougar,  the  coyote, 
the  bear,  the  Indian,  had  to  be  met  in  those  days,  by 
one  class  of  men,  while  another  class  turned  the  sod, 
tilled  the  soil,  reaped  the  grain,  and  still  another 
had  to   plant,  build,  and   sustain  churches.     All  of 

^  Rev.  "W.  F.  Boyakin,  still  (1894)  living  in  Kansas,  at  eighty- 
four  years  of  age. 


46      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

these  onerous  duties  were  often  performed  by  one  and 
the  same  class.  The  same  man  went  to  the  pkice  of 
worship  clad  in  a  suit  of  dressed  buckskin,  wiih 
moccasins  on  his  feet,  shot-pouch  swung  to  his  side, 
and  the  ever-present  rifle  on  his  shoulder,  and 
preached  the  gospel  to  the  few  neighbors  gathered 
inside  the  log-cabin  wliile  others  were  stationed  as 
pickets." 

This  was  not  u  school  for  educating  a  polished 
ministry ;  but  it  produced  a  class  of  men  who  of  all 
men  deserved  to  be  styled  ''  good  soldiers  of  Jesus 
Christ " ;  ready  for  service  on  all  occasions,  and 
trained  in  a  species  of  eloquence  which,  however 
quaint  in  some  of  its  characteristics,  was  still  found 
suited  to  impress  men  of  high  intelligence  and  cul- 
ture. James  Lemen,  Jr.,  after  he  became  a  member 
of  the  State  Senate,  preached  before  the  Legislature  in 
a  way  to  delight  and  move  his  hearers.  His  father, 
a  man  of  strong  native  povers,  was  less  gifted  than 
his  son  in  those  qualities  of  the  imagination  and  of 
ready  utterance  which  make  men  eloquent,  yet  was 
an  effective  preacher,  while  he  was  also  a  man  of 
affairs  whose  influence  was  felt  far  and  wide.  He 
was  an  active  justice  of  the  peace  under  the  terri- 
torial goverment  during  many  years,  and  for  a  time 
one  of  the  judges  of  the  county  court ;  this  gave 
him,  in  his  later  years,  the  title  by  which  he  was 
commonly  known  as  Judge  Lemen.  His  personal 
appearance  is  thus  described :  "  You  ask  what  kind 
of  a  man  was  he  ?     I  answer  '  rough.'     He  had  a 


FIRST   ON   THE    FIELD  47 

lisp  in  his  articulation.  His  sandy  hair  was  bushy 
in  the  extreme.  In  fact,  there  was  a  tradition,  which 
used  to  be  quoted  as  a  good  joke,  that  the  seed  of  the 
cockle-burr  was  brought  from  Virginia  in  the  hair  of 
Judge  Lemen.  His  education  was  limited,  his  train- 
ing being  mostly  that  of  a  pioneer  in  the  wilderness. 
His  expounding  of  the  word  was  characteristic,  like 
himself,  for  he  did  not  claim  to  be  a  polished  workman, 
and  in  the  application  of  the  truth  he  asked  for  no 
quarter  and  he  gave  none."^ 

Of  Dr.  J  .M.  Peck,  as  of  others,  there  will  be  occa- 
sion to  speak,  in  other  connections,  more  at  large  than 
can  be  attempted  here.  Born  in  Litchfield,  Conn.,  in 
1789,  a  descendant  of  one  of  those  by  ^vhom  the 
New  England  colonies  were  planted,  with  imperfect 
advantages  of  early  education,  reared  as  a  Congrega- 
tionalist,  but  becoming  a  Baptist  through  independent 
study  of  the  New  Testament,  ordained  at  Catskill, 
New  York,  in  1813,  after  a  brief  pastorate  at  Ameuia, 
in  that  State,  he  removed  in  1816  to  Philadelphia, 
where  he  stv.died  tlieology  under  Dr.  Staughton,  and 
having  later  caught  the  missionary  spirit  from  Dr. 
Luther  Rice,  devoted  his  life  thenceforth  to  mis- 
sionary service  in  the  West.  His  home  was  first  in 
St.  Louis  and  St.  Charles,  Mo.,  but  after  some  years  he 
fixed  it  finally  at  Rock  Spring,  111.     From  this  time 

1  Kev.  B.  B.  Hamilton.  Mr.  Hamilton  was  born  at  New  De- 
sign, the  home  of  the  first  Baptist  church  in  Illinois.  He  died 
Nov.  11, 1894,  at  considerably  past  his  three-score  years  and  ten. 
He  was  a  man  of  vigorous  mind  and  retentive  memory,  and  an 
authority  in  matters  of  early  Baptist  history  in  his  native  State. 


48       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  AVESTERN  STATES 

onward  he  becomes  a  principal  figure  in  Illinois  Bap- 
tist history,  until  his  death  in  1858.  ''  He  was,"  says 
Dr.  Sprague,  in  his  "  Annals  of  the  American  Baptist 
Pulpit/'  "  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
self-made  men  of  his  day." 

Pioneer  Baptists  in  Northern  Illinois  come  upon 
the  field  at  nearly  the  same  date  as  that  of  the  organ- 
ization of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Soci- 
ety. Of  Rev.  Allen  B.  Freeman,  we  shall  speak  in 
connection  with  beginnings  at  Chicago.  Following 
him,  in  his  short  career,  are  others  of  whom  due  men- 
tion should  be  made  in  this  place. 

First,  we  may  name  Rev.  J.  E.  Ambrose,  a  native 
of  New  Hampshire,  his  paternal  grandfather  having 
been  one  of  the  Baptist  pioneers  in  that  State,  and  a 
contemporary  of  Dr.  Baldwin.  The  family  having 
removed  to  the  State  of  New  York  while  he  was  yet 
a  child,  he  found  his  first  Sunday-school  in  Albany, 
but  later,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  was  converted  at 
Rochester,  and  was  baptized  by  Rev.  Eleazar  Savage, 
then  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  that  city. 
Five  years  later,  in  1831,  he  was  licensed  to  preach 
by  the  church  in  Rochester.  After  spending  one 
term  in  study  at  Hamilton,  he  entered  upon  active 
service  in  "  protracted  meetings,"  as  they  were  then 
called,  in  places  like  Rome,  Parma,  and  Marion,  in 
Central  and  Western  New  York.  His  further  pur- 
pose had  been  to  prepare  himself  for  the  Burman  mis- 
sion, and  with  that  view  he  returned  to  Hamilton. 
A  failure  of  health,  however,  compelled  the  abandon- 


FIRST    OX    THE    FIELD  49 

meut  of  this  purpose.  A  year  having  been  spent  in 
stiuly  with  Rev.  Joseph  Elliott,  at  Wyoming,  he  ac- 
cepted a  commission  from  the  Homo  jNIission  Society, 
for  service  in  Cliicago  and  its  vicinity,  arriving  on 
the  field  in  June,  1834. 

After  the  death  of  ^fr.  Freeman,  Mr.  Ambrose,  for 
a  time  supplied  the  church  in  Chicago.  His  principal 
service,  however,  was  in  the  adjacent  region.  Popu- 
lation was  flowing  in,  and  there  was  abundant  work 
for  the  zealous  and  devoted  missionary  who,  for  a 
time,  was  almost  alone  upon  the  field.  Under  his 
ministry  churches  were  organized  at  Plainfield,  Bata- 
via,  St.  Charles,  Elgin,  and  Dundee.  In  the  subse- 
quent history  of  the  entire  region  where  these  churches, 
with  so  many  others  in  course  of  time  were  planted, 
and  more  especially  in  those  discussions  of  public 
questions  which  later  so  much  occupied  the  attention 
of  thoughtful  and  earnest  men,  Mr.  Ambrose  actively 
shared. 

Rev.  A.  J.  Joslyn  came  to  Northern  Illinois  in 
1838,  making  his  home  first  at  Crystal  Lake,  where 
his  occupation  for  a  time  was  that  of  a  farmer.  De- 
ciding to  enter  the  ministry,  he  studied  for  a  while 
with  a  neighboring  pastor,  and  in  1842,  began  his 
career  of  service  at  Warrenville.  Called  to  Elgin 
after  some  two  years,  he  remained  pastor  of  the  church 
in  that  place  for  eleven  years,  becoming  known  in 
that  time  as  one  of  the  most  eifective  and  influential 
ministers  of  his  own  denomination  in  the  State.  His 
public  spirit  and  his  zeal  in  the  interests  of  reform 

D 


50       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

made  him  conspicuous  in  the  debates  and  controver- 
sies of  that  ])eriod  of  agitation  which  preceded  the 
war.  In  1856,  after  a  year  of  agency  service  for 
Shurtleff  College,  he  removed  to  Chicago,  where, 
under  his  ministry,  the  Union  Park,  now  the  Fourth 
Baptist  Church,  was  organized.  His  health  failing, 
he  returned  to  Elgin  and  entered  into  journalism  as 
editor  of  the  "  Gazette,"  in  that  city.  He  died  in 
1868,  after  years  of  painful  decline. 

Connected  with  the  history  of  early  denominational 
growth  in  the  northern  section  of  the  State  is  the 
name  of  Rev.  Thomas  Powell.  His  arrival  in  Illinois 
occurred  in  1836,  while  Dr.  Jonathan  Going  was  still 
the  secretary  of  the  society  whose  commission  he  bore. 
His  woik  was  that  of  a  missionary  in  the  fullest  sense 
of  the  term.  Although  his  station  was  at  Vermil- 
lion vi  lie,  he  was  called  upon  from  near  and  far,  in  the 
dearth  of  ministers,  to  hold  meetings,  collect  the  scat- 
tered flocks,  and  organize  churches.  No  less  than 
thirteen  such  churches  are  named  as  thus  formed  : 
Granville,  Mount  Palatine,  La  Salle,  Ottawa,  La- 
moille, Tiskilwa,  Paw  Paw  Grove,  Harding,  Fremont, 
La  Marsh,  Mount  Pleasant,  Dixon,  Rock  Island. 
The  Illinois  River  Association,  out  of  which  subse- 
quently grew  four  others — the  Ottawa,  Rock  River, 
the  East  Illinois  River,  and  the  McLean — was  organ- 
ized under  his  leadership.  Mr.  Powell's  efficiency  in 
such  forms  of  labor  was  in  due  time  recognized  in  his 
appointment  as  agent  of  the  Home  Mission  Society  in 
Illinois,  rendering  in  that  post  most  valuable  service. 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  51 

Among  those  active  on  tlie  field  during  the  same 
period  may  be  named,  also,  Rev.  Burton  B.  Car- 
penter, afterward  for  many  years  pastor  at  Griggs- 
ville,  in  tlie  central  portion  of  the  State,  and  a  leader 
in  denominational  affairs  there.  He  was  ordained  at 
Dixon,  where  he  continued  in  service  four  years  and 
six  months.  He  was  "  small  of  stature,  but  mighty 
in  the  Scriptures,  and  beloved  by  all  who  knew 
him." ' 

In  May,  1834,  came  to  Illinois  Rev.  J.  F.  Tolman, 
father  of  Rev.  C.  F.  Tolman,  d.  d.,  and  of  Mrs.  A. 
M.  Bacon,  both  of  whom  filled  during  so  many  years 
positions  of  signal  usefulness  as  representing  interests 
of  foreign  missions  on  this  field  ;  also  of  Rev.  John 
N.  Tolman,  long  a  faithful  and  useful  minister  in 
Central  Illinois  and  elsewhere.  Mr.  Tolman,  a  man 
of  strong  intellect,  a  student  and  an  author,  was,  until 
physical  infirmity  made  active  service  impossible,  one 
of  the  most  efficient  pioneer  ministers  in  Northern  Illi- 
nois. When  laid  aside  from  such  service,  he  continued 
to  interest  himself  deeply  in  all  aspects  of  the  work, 
and  was  helpful  with  his  pen  when  his  voice  could  no 
longer  be  used  in  that  behalf.  Like  things  should  be 
said  of  Rev.  N.  Warriner,  who  came  to  Illinois  in 
1842;  of  Rev.  Ichabod  Clark,  who  came  in  1848,  his 
chief  service  in  the  State  being  as  pastor  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Rockford ;  and  of  Rev.  Charles 
Hill  Roe,  who  came  from  England  in  1851,  and  in 

1  Mr.  J.  T.  Little,  in  a  paper  read  at  the  "roll-call"  of  the 
Baptist  church  in  Dixon,  111.,  October  22,  1893. 


52      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

that  same  year  became  pastor  of  the  Baptist  cliiirc- 
in  Belvidere,  fulfilling  there  and  elsewhere  a  ministry 
of  distinguished  usefulness. 

There  would  be  much  to  say  if  limitations  of  space 
permitted,  of  laymen  active  in  the  early  Baptist  his- 
tory of  Illinois.  Their  record  belongs  in  connection 
with  tiiat,  in  each  section  of  the  State,  which  was 
most  significant  of  Christian  fidelity  and  denomina- 
tional progress.  One  by  one  their  names  have  nearly 
all  disappeared  from  the  roll  of  the  living,  yet  should 
by  no  means  fail  to  appear  in  the  history  of  what  God 
has  wrought  through  the  faithful  men  who  have  loved 
and  served  him  on  this  Western  field.  In  the  early 
history  of  the  State  itself,  such  men  as  Hon.  J.  B. 
Thomas,  Hon.  Cyrus  Edwards,  Hon.  E.  G.  Miner, 
General  Mason  Brayman,  distinguished  by  eminent 
service  in  the  civil  war,  and  since  discharging  impor- 
tant civil  functions,  at  one  time  as  governor  of  Idaho  ; 
in  Chicago,  Hon.  Charles  Walker,  whose  name  be- 
longs with  those  who  shared  most  largely  in  setting 
the  young  city  on  its  career  of  prosperity  and  renown  ; 
Hon.  L.  D.  Boone,  m.  d.,  at  one  time  mayor  of  the  city ; 
Hon.  Samuel  Hoard,  C.  N.  Holden,  Esq.,  and  Cyrus 
Bentley,  Esq. ;  outside  the  city,  Deacon  Daniel  Haiofii, 
of  Pavillion,  father  of  the  secretary,  Dr.  W.  M.  Haigh  ; 
E.  W.  Padelford,  of  Elgin,  for  full  half  a  century 
serving  as  clerk  of  the  Chicago  Baptist  Association  ; 
E.  K.  W.  Cornell,  of  the  same  place,  active  in  church 
affairs  from  a  very  early  date ;  Deacon  Eli  as  Mabie, 
of  Belvidere,    father   of   the   secretary,    Dr.    H.    C. 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  53 

Mabie;  S.  P.  Crawford,  Esq.,  of  Kockford,  a  pillar 
in  the  ciiurch  there  from  a  very  early  day.  There  is 
scarcely  a  page  of  denominational  history,  in  relitrion 
or  in  education,  but,  if  fully  written,  would  somewhere 
enroll  these  and  many  other  such  names  as  among 
those  of  men  most  vigilant,  most  active,  most  ready 
for  either  service  or  sacrifice. 


CHAPTER  III 

FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD — IN    INDIANA,  MICHIGAN, 
AND  WISCONSIN 

THE  Baptist  pioneers  of  Indiana  were  from  Ken- 
tucky. As  the  first  church  planted  by  tiiem,  iu 
1798,  was  at  Silver  Creek,  now  Charleston,  only  some 
fifteen  miles  from  Louisville,  beginnings  in  Indiana 
mav  be  assumed  to  have  been  simply  by  a  process  of 
quiet  migration.  The  man  chiefly  active  in  organiz- 
ing the  church  was  llev.  Isaac  Edwards.  Distinction 
is  won  for  the  church  itself  by  the  fact  that  among  its 
earlv  members  was  Isaac  McCoy,  "  the  Judson  of 
Indian  missions,"  and  his  sister,  Eliza  ]\IcCoy,  as. 
active  and  devoted  as  himself  How  much  the  inter- 
est in  missions  was  with  them  a  family  trait,  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  this  cluirch  at  the  time 
when  mission  societies,  Siuiday-schools,  and  temper- 
ance societies  were  the  objects  of  anti-mission  denun- 
ciation, felt  called  upon  to  "admonish"  Deacon  John 
McCoy,  the  father,  for  his  zeal  in  these  directions; 
Elder  Wilson  declaring  that  all  such  associations  were 
"of  the  devil  and  were  doing  his  work."  The  reply 
of  the  deacon  was :  "  You  might  as  well  try  to  turn 
the  Ohio  Hiver  around,  as  to  stop  the  progress  of  these 
societies." 
54 


FIIiST    ON    THE    FIELD  55 

Conspicuous  among  early  Baptists  in  Indiana  were 
tiirce  brothers,  Jolm,  William,  and  Achilles  Vawter. 
We  shall  use  freely,  in  speaking  of  these  and  others, 
the  information  furnished  us  by  President  W.  T.  Stott, 
D.  D.,  of  Franklin  College.  The  most  efficient  of 
the  three  was  Mr.  John  Vawter.  "  He  was  a  business 
man  as  well  as  a  minister,"  an  example,  accordingly, 
of  that  variety  of  capacity  and  of  service  seen  often 
in  the  pioneer  minister,  who  finds  work  of  all  kinds 
to  be  done  in  the  new  community  where  he  becomes 
the  natural  and  recognized  leader.  '•  He  was  the  first 
magistrate  of  the  city  of  Madison,  was  made  sheriff 
of  Jefferson  and  Clark  counties,  and  was  finally  ap- 
pointed United  States  marshal  for  the  State  of  In- 
diana. He  was  the  fi)under  of  the  town  of  Vernon. 
In  1831  he  was  elected  to  the  State  Legislature,  and  in 
1836  was  sent  to  the  State  Senate.  He  was  made 
vice-president  of  the  convention  that  nominated 
President  Zachary  Taylor.  In  his  day  he  was  per- 
haps the  most  influential  man  among  the  Baptist 
churches  and  Associations  of  Southern  Indiana.  His 
individuality  was  very  marked.  He  spoke  out  just 
what  he  thought,  whether  it  was  agreeable  to  those 
who  heard  or  not.  He  hated  dogs  and  tobacco.  He 
has  been  known  to  arrest  the  sermon  he  was  preach- 
ing lono^  enough  to  uut  a  dos;  out  of  the  meetins^- 
house.  An  Association  was  to  be  held  with  his  home 
church.  He  prepared  for  a  large  number  of  guests. 
Out  in  the  grape  arbor  he  had  several  open  boxes 
filled  with  sawdust.     When  the   brethren  came  for 


56       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

entertainment  he  requested  those  who  used  tobacco  to 
use  the  arbor,  the  others  the  house.  He  sympathized 
with  the  old  Baptists  in  their  dread  of  '  new-fangled 
notions '  in  the  church, — such  as  instrumental  music, — 
and  not  till  his  later  years  was  he  a  decided  advocate 
for  missions.  He  died  in  August,  1872,  at  the  age 
of  ninety  years.  The  father  of  these  Vawter  broth- 
ers was  also  a  zealous  Baptist  minister." 

Rev.  J.  L.  Richmond,  m.  d.,  maternal  grandfather 
of  Prof.  C.  R.  Henderson,  d.  d.,  of  the  University 
of  Chicago,  was  a  man  of  more  education  tiian  was 
usual  with  pioneer  Baptist  ministers.  A  native  of 
Massachusetts,  where  he  was  born  in  1785,  he  was 
not  only  a  classical  and  mathematical  scholar,  but 
"  quite  a  master  of  the  Greek  New  Testament."     In 

1832  we  find  him  a  lecturer  in  a  medical  college  in 
Cincinnati,    preaching    as    opportunity   offered.      In 

1833  he  came  to  Indiana,  and  in  1835  became  pastor 
of  the  Baptist  church  in  Indianapolis.  In  the  war 
of  1812  he  held  the  rank  of  surgeon  in  tlie  army  and 
was  in  service  on  the  lakes.  "  He  was  a  man  of  en- 
terprise, having  a  foremost  i)lace  in  the  planting  and 
training  of  churches  and  the  founding  of  educational 
institutions." 

Among  laymen  prominent  in  the  early  Baptist  his- 
tory of  Indiana  may  be  named  Judge  Jesse  S.  Hol- 
man,  father  of  Hon.  William  O.  Hoi  man,  of  the 
United  States  House  of  Representatives.  He  was 
from  Kentucky,  born  at  Frankfort  in  that  State  in 
1783,  where  also  he  studied  law  and  was  first  admit- 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  57 

ted  to  practice.  Being  an  opponent  of  slavery,  he  left 
Kentucky  anil  came  to  Indiana  in  1811,  selecting  a 
site  for  his  new  home  ''on  one  of  the  beautiful  hills 
overlooking  the  Ohio.  He  named  it  Verdestan,  and 
it  has  been  the  home  of  the  Holmans  from  that  day 
to  this.  He  was  a  man  of  elegant  tastes,  and  it  is 
said  that  his  flower  garden  was  the  most  beautiful  in 
all  Southern  Indiana.  Gov.  Harrison  commissioned 
him  sheriff  of  Dearborn  and  Jefferson  counties.  In 
1814  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature  of  the  Indiana 
Territory,  and  in  1816,  the  year  Indiana  became  a 
State,  was  appointed  presiding  judge  of  tiie  second 
and  third  districts,  becoming  in  the  same  year  judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Stale.  The  organization 
of  the  Aurora  Church  was  due  to  his  influence." 

Aurora  was  the  center  of  foreign  missions  in  those 
days,  the  spirit  of  missions  pervading  that  section  of 
the  State  in  many  directions.  "  Not  far  away  was  the 
Sparta  Church,  with  John  Givens  as  its  eloquent  young 
minister,  seeing  whom  in  the  pulpit  Lemuel  Moss  first 
formed  the  purpose  of  becoming  a  Baptist  minister. 
From  the  same  church  came  Sanuiel  Dow,  who  at  his 
death,  left  the  ]Missionary  Union  eight  thousand  dol- 
lars." 

Judge  Holman  was  evidently  an  active,  as  well  as 
a  consistent  Baptist.  He  "traveled  a  good  deal, 
mostly  on  horseback,  to  meet  his  brethren  in  their 
religious  gatherings.  He  helped  to  form  the  State 
Convention  of  Baptists,  and  was  a  vigorous  worker 
in  the  early  struggles  of  Franklin  College.     Indeed, 


58       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

he  was  once  elected  president  of  the  college,  but  found 
it  impossible  to  serve." 

Rev.  William  T.  Stott,  grandfather  of  President 
Stott,  came  to  Indiana  in  1815,  having  been  born  in 
1789.  He  was  pastor  of  the  Vernon  Church  for 
fifty  years,  with  but  one  or  two  intervals.  Pie  was 
not  a  scholar,  but  he  knew  the  Bible  as  well  as  any 
man  of  iiis  opportunities.  He  was  also  a  keen  ob- 
server of  human  nature.  There  was  that  about  him 
which  drew  men  to  him,  and  which  made  them  recog- 
nize him  as  a  leader.  He  planted  scores  of  churches 
and  baptized  about  one  thousand  who  were  converted 
under  his  ministry.  His  travels  on  preaching  excur- 
sions were  far  and  wide  over  tlie  State,  his  gun  often 
being  his  companion,  for  tlie  killing  of  game  or  for 
protection  against  the  Indians.  In  preaching,  the 
Spirit  often  so  possessed  him  that  he  was  mighty  in 
his  eloquence.  INIen  and  women  woitld  come  many 
miles  to  hear  him.  "  During  his  last  illness  lie  was 
unconscious,  but  had  a  lucid  interval  during  which  he 
rehearsed  his  conversion,  religious  experience,  and  call 
to  the  ministry,  speaking  of  his  great  love  to  the 
churches."     His  death  occurred  in  1877. 

Among  those  to  whose  missionary  labors  the  plant- 
ing of  churches  in  Indiana  was  largely  due,  was  Rev. 
William  M.  Pratt,  T>.  d.,  Avho  came  to  the  AVe-t  after 
closing  his  course  of  study  at  Hamilton.  His  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Peek,  still  so  well 
remembered  among  the  churches  in  Central  New 
York.     He  came  first  to  Crawfordsville,  as  a  mis- 


FIRST    OX    THE    FIELD  59 

sionary  of  the  Americau  Baptist  Home  jNIissioii  So- 
ciety, in  1839.  Of  eliiirches  M'hich  ho  aided  in  or- 
ganizing, now  among  the  strongest  in  the  State,  may 
be  named  Crawfordsville,  South  Bend,  Misliawaka, 
Logausport,  and  La  Fayette.  ''  It  is  said  that  his 
first  sermon  at  La  Fayette  was  in  a  tavern,  and  that 
he  used  the  bar  for  a  pulpit.  He  was  a  snperior  busi- 
ness man,  and  has  done  good  service  in  connection 
with  Fraukhn  College,  and  with  the  college  at  George- 
town, Ky." 

Rev.  Lewis  Morgan,  father  of  General  T.  J. 
Morgan,  Indian  Commissioner  under  President  Har- 
rison, and  now  (1895)  Secretary  of  the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  was  a  native  of  Ten- 
nessee, and  born  in  1788.  In  1816  he  came  to  In- 
diana, making  his  home  in  tiie  forests  of  Shelby 
County.  "  He  was  early  a  member  of  the  State  Con- 
vention and  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the 
establishment  of  Franklin  College,  becoming,  in  fact, 
its  first  financial  agent."  As  at  one  time  an  agent  of 
the  American  Sunday-school  Union,  he  had  much 
experience  in  dealing  with  the  spirit  of  opposition  to 
all  such  enterprises,  which  once  so  permeated  Indiana, 
as  well  as  other  Western  States.  In  that  connection 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  him  again. 

Of  Isaac  McCoy,  also,  there  will  be  more  to  say  in 
another  place.  Born  in  Fayette  County,  Pa.,  in  1784, 
of  Scotch-Irish  parents,  he  was  brought  to  Kentucky 
while  a  child  of  six  years,  the  family  moving  to  Shelby 
County  in  that  State  in  1790.     He  received  baptism 


60      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

when  seventeen  years  of  ao;e,  at  the  hands  of  Rev. 
William  Waller,  uniting  with  the  Buck  Creek  Church. 
In  1803  he  was  married  to  Christiana,  daughter  of 
Captain  E.  Polk.  In  this  connection  a  fact  is  men- 
tioned illustrative  of  those  coincidences  in  human  life 
which  are  often  so  interesting.  "  Many  years  prior  to 
this.  Captain  Polk  being  absent  on  a  campaign  against 
the  Indians,  his  wife  and  three  children  whom  he  had 
left  in  a  fort  in  Nelson  County,  were  taken  prisoners 
by  the  Ottawa  Indians,  and  conveyed  to  the  Northern 
lakes,  where,  after  much  suifering  for  several  years, 
they  were  found  by  their  anxious  and  vigilant  hus- 
band and  father,  and  brought  back  to  their  own  home. 
It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  a  daughter  of  Captain 
Polk,  born  subsequently  to  this  captivity,  should  have 
gone  with  her  husband,  Isaac  McCoy,  among  those 
very  Ottawa  Indians,  to  carry  them  the  glorious  gos- 
pel of  the  blessed  Lord."  ^ 

Mr.  McCoy's  first  home  In  Indiana  was  at  Yiu- 
ceunes.  In  1804  he  removed  to  Clark  County,  and 
having  united  with  the  Silver  Creek  Baptist  Church, 
was  by  that  church  licensed  to  preach.  After  some 
six  years,  having  in  the  meantime  made  his  home  at 
Maria  Creek,  not  far  from  Vincennes,  he  was  there 
ordained,  his  father,  Elder  William  McCoy,  and 
Elder  George  Waller  conducting  the  service.  Of  this 
church  he  remained  pastor,  although  with  various 
missionary  journeys  to  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  until, 
having  received   in  1817  an  appointment  from  the 

^Sprague's  "Annals  of  the  American  Baptist  Pulpit,"  p.  542. 


FIRST   OX   THE    FIELD  61 

Board  of  the  Baptist  Triennial  Convention,  lie  devoted 
himself  from  that  time  until  his  death,  in  J  846,  entirely 
to  work  among  the  Indians. 

One  who  knew  Mr.  McCoy  well,  Joseph  Chambers, 
Esq.,  of  Maria  Creek,  Indiana,  has  said  of  him  :  '•  Mr. 
McCoy  had  but  very  limited  advantages  for  education, 
though  by  his  own  indefatigable  elfort  in  after  life  he 
acquired  a  large  amount  of  useful  knowledge,  and  be- 
came highly  respectable,  even  as  a  writer.  When  he 
began  his  ministry  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  his 
preaching  was  not  very  acceptable,  and  though  every- 
body regarded  him  as  an  excellent  man,  some  might 
have  thought  that  his  legitimate  vocation  was  hardly 
in  the  pulpit.  He,  Iiowever,  became  a  decidedly  able 
preacher."  ^  Dr.  Rufus  Babeock  says  of  him  •  "  In 
person  he  was  tall  and  slender,  stooping  considerably 
as  he  walked,^  but  sometimes  rising  to  erectness  in  his 
more  animated  addresses.  His  utterances  were  rapid 
and  earnest,  and  in  portraying  the  wrongs  to  which 
our  aborigines  have  been  subjected,  he  often  became 
pathetic  and  eloquent.  He  loved  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
and  preached  it  with  fidelity  whenever  an  opportunity 
presented."  It  was  in  improving  such  an  opportunitv 
that  he  preached  the  first  Baptist  sermon  ever  heard 
in  Chicago.    This  was  on  October  9,  1825. 

Of  those  first  in  Michigan,  Dr.  Haskell  says :  ^ 
^  The  "strictly  pioneer  Baptists"  come  to  view  most  dis- 
tinctly  in   Oaklaud   CouDt3^      In    1818   the   brave   advance 
^  Sprague's  "Annals,"  p.  545. 

2  "Fifty  Years  of  Michigan  Baptist  History,"  by  Eev.  S.  Has- 
kell, D.  D.     1886. 


62      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

guard  cut  their  way  tlirougli  thick  forests  from  Detroit  to 
where  the  city  of  Pontiac  now  stands,  and  commenced  the 
first  inland  farm  settlement  in  Michigan.  The  first  of  these 
settlers  that  arc  mentioued  as  Baptists  are  Orison  Allen  and 
wife,  who  came  to  the  site  of  the  city  of  Pontiac  in  1819, 
Shubael  Atherton,  Lemuel  Taylor,  Samuel  Gibbs,  Philip 
Marlatt,  Hiram  Calkins,  Eleazer  Millard,  and  others.  In  their 
hands  our  denominational  flag  seems  to  have  been  brought 
into  the  Territory,  and  over  their  rude  cabins,  built  on  the 
ground  where  we  are  met  to-day  ^  that  symbol  of  our  taith 
was  first  displayed.  As  early  as  1821  these  brethren  and  their 
families  met  for  worship  on  alternate  Sundays  in  Pontiac  and 
Troy.  Sister  Abner  Davis,  now  residing  at  Port  Huron, 
speaks  of  meeting  with  them  at  the  house  of  Deacon  Gibbs, 
about  two  miles  east  of  the  present  city  of  Pontiac,  where  the 
church  of  Pontiac  was  organized  in  1822.  Her  husband,  not 
then  a  Christian,  but  subsequently  and  for  many  years  an 
honored  deacon  of  the  church,  accompanied  her,  and  together 
they  wended  their  way  through  the  foi'cst  by  an  Indian  trail, 
crossing  the  bridgeless  river  upon  a  log. 

After  four  years  of  what  must  have  been  a  lonely 
life  amid  these  wilderness  surroundings,  the  little  band 
at  Pontiac  was  cheered  by  a  visit  from  Rev.  Elon 
Galusha,  "the  ardent  and  gifted  missionary  of 
the  New  York  Baptist  State  Convention/'  of  which 
organization  Dr.  Haskell  speaks  as  "  our  first  and 
long  faithful  mother  in  the  Lord."  He  proceeds  to 
say  :  "  Brother  Galusha  came  to  Pontiac  on  an  itin- 
erant mission  in  1822.  Here  he  preached  in  the  wil- 
derness, and  led  in  the  organization  of  the  first  Baptist 

1  The  Michigan  Baptist  State  Convention,  meeting  at  Pontiac 
in  the  autumn  of  1886,  and  before  which  the  paper  from  which 
we  quote  was  read. 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  63 

church  in  the  Territory."  The  first  Baptist  minister 
of  -whom  Me  learn  as  resident  in  the  Territory  is 
Orestes  Taylor,  who  made  his  home  at  Stonv  Creek, 
in  OakLand  County.  He  was  never  ordained,  hold- 
ing only  the  office  of  deacon,  and  preaching  as  a 
licentiate.  He  is  spoken  of  "  as  a  good  and  useful 
man,  the  head  of  a  large  flimily,  for  whom  his 
hands  were  diligent,  and  who  perpetuated  his  useful- 
ness by  their  own  work  in  the  churches." 

In  the  summer  of  1824  the  church  at  Pontiac  found 
a  pastor  in  the  person  of  Rev.  Elkanah  Comstock,  the 
first  ordained  minister  to  become  thus  a  resident  in 
Michigan.  He  had  volunteered  to  the  Convention  of 
New  York  for  missionary  service  in  this  then  remote 
region.  A  native  of  New  London,  Conn.,  he  be- 
longed to  a  family  bearing  a  name  noted  among  sea- 
faring men,  while  one  of  the  number  attained  to 
the  iionors  of  authorship  as  a  writer  of  books  upon 
chemistry  and  natural  philosophy.  Besides  his  ser- 
vice at  Pontiac,  Mr.  Comstock  saw  under  his  labors 
the  organization  of  two  other  churches,  at  Troy,  in 
1824,  and  at  Farmington,  in  1826,  both  in  the  same 
section  of  the  State  as  Pontiac.  His  health  failing 
after  ten  years  of  faithful  and  self-sacrificing  service, 
he  returned  to  his  early  New  England  home,  and 
there  died. 

The  second  ordained  Baptist  minister  to  settle  in 
Michigan,  Rev.  Moses  Clark,  is  noted  in  the  denomi- 
national history  of  that  State  as  having  preached  the 
first  sermon  heard  in  what  is  now  Ann  Arbor,  near 


64      HISTORY  OP  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

which  place  he  made  his  home  in  1825.  He  led  in 
the  organization  of  the  church  at  Ann  Arbor,  in 
1828,  and  was  its  first  pastor.  His  record  is  that  of 
a  good  and  useful  man.  ''  The  third  pastor  that  we 
learn  of,"  says  Dr.  Haskell,  "was  Rev.  John  But- 
tolph,  who  settled  in  Troy  in  1826.  He  died  with 
this  church  the  same  year.  His  memory  was  long 
perpetuated  as  that  of  a  loved  and  successful  pastor,  a 
character  that  was  reproduced  in  his  son,  also  one  of 
the  early  ministers  in  the  State,  who  died  while  yet 
young,  and  sleeps  by  his  father's  side  in  Troy." 

Connected  with  the  beginnings  of  Baptist  history  in 
Detroit  is  the  name  of  Eev.  Henry  Davis,  who,  upon 
the  completion  of  his  studies  at  Hamilton,  was  drawn 
westward  by  his  interest  in  work  on  mission  fields. 
Detroit  is  described  as  being,  near  the  time  of  these 
beginnings,  "  a  muddy  and  cheap  village  of  one 
thousand  five  hundred  inhabitants,"  although  its 
career  of  growth  into  what  it  now  is  must  have  begun 
not  long  after.  It  was  in  1827  that  Mr.  Davis,  with 
his  young  wife,  like-minded  with  himself,  came  to 
Detroit.  There  was  already  an  academy  in  the  place, 
where  meetings  were  first  held,  and  baptisms  in  the 
river  soon  became  a  spectacle  awakening  popular  in- 
terest. A  church  was  organized  in  1827.  '"'The 
New  York  Baptist  Convention  stood  nurse  to  the 
babe,  Elisha  Tucker  of  Fredonia,  presiding  and 
preaching."  Of  laymen  who  were  leaders  then  and 
long  after,  such  names  are  mentioned  as  Francis  P. 
Browning,  E,.  C.  Smith,  S.  N.  Kendrick,  and  others. 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  G5 

Other  of  the  early  ministers  in  the  Territory  and 
State  were  identified  -with  enterprises  such  as  Indian 
missions,  education,  and  State  missions,  of  which 
mention  will  be  made  in  their  place.  Isaac  McCov, 
as  missionary  to  the  Indians,  came  to  Michigan  from 
Indiana  in  1822,  Rev.  Leonard  Slater  in  1826,  Rev. 
A.  Bingham  in  1828. 

As  connected  with  beginnings  in  education,  the 
name  of  Rev.  Thomas  W.  Merrill  stands  prominent. 
His  life  and  service  in  Michigan  cover  a  period  of 
almost  half  a  century,  his  arrival  in  the  Territory 
occurring  in  1829  and  his  death  in  1878.  The  son  of 
a  Congregational ist  minister  in  Maine,  ho  afterward 
became  a  Baptist,  and  was  baptized  by  Dr.  Baldwin 
of  Boston.  Educated  at  Waterville  and  Newton,  he 
chose  the  West  as  the  scene  of  his  life  and  labor, 
coming  to  Michigan  upon  graduation  at  the  seminary. 
He  embarked  almost  immediately  in  educational  enter- 
prises, the  ultimate  fruit  of  which  was  the  college  at 
Kalamazoo.  Associated  with  his  own,  in  this  sphere 
of  service,  are  the  names  of  Judge  Caleb  Eldred,  Mr. 
Browning  of  Detroit,  Judge  Manning,  and  others, 
whose  record  is  in  the  educational  history  of  the  State. 

Many  other  names  noted  in  the  early  Baptist  his- 
tory of  Michigan  would  deserve  special  mention  here 
did  limitations  of  space  permit.  Connected  with  be- 
ginnings at  Adrian  is  the  name  of  Rev.  T.  Bodley, 
under  whose  labors  the  church  there  was  organized  in 
1832.  "  A  man  of  mark  "  was  Rev.  J.  S.  Twiss,  who 
was  pastor  of  the  Ann  Arbor  Church  when  it  assumed 

E 


66       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

its  present  location  and  name,  this  also  being  in  1832. 
While  ''a  preacher  of  strength  and  vivacity,"  of  high 
character  in  all  respects,  "  his  hatred  of  oppression 
and  everything  that  degrades  man,  took  forms  of  ex- 
pression which  one  does  not  forget."  One  such  quoted 
of  him  is,  *'Only  let  your  politics  be  as  becometh  the 
gospel  of  Christ."  Another  is,  "  Since  we  have  no 
horns,  what  is  the  use  of  shaking  our  heads  as  if  we 
had  horns." 

Dr.  Haskell,  of  whose  contributions  to  Michigan 
Baptist  history  we  make  such  free  use,  came  to  tlie 
State  in  1847,  as  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Churcii 
in  Detroit.  Of  his  distinguished  service  as  a  denom- 
inational leader,  as  also  that  of  others,  we  shall  have 
more  to  say  in  subsequent  pages. 

Although  Baptist  pioneer  life  in  Wisconsin  began 
much  later  than  in  the  States  so  far  under  view,  the 
conditions  of  it  were  very  much  the  same.  Those 
portions  which  lie  along  or  near  tlie  border  of  North- 
ern Illinois  and  along  Lake  iNlichigan,  \vere  naturally 
first  settleii,  and  here  Baptist  history  in  the  State 
begins.  Of  the  church  at  Brothertown,  composed  of 
converted  Indians,  we  shall  speak  later,  and  in  another 
connection.  The  first  church  to  be  organized  with  a 
white  membership  was  at  Prairieville,  now  Waukesha, 
its  first  settled  pastor  being  Rev.  Absalom  Miner,  M-ho 
after  leaving  the  ministry  as  a  settled  occupation,  long 
remained  as  an  honored  citizen  of  the  place  he  had 
helped  to  found,  and  a  valued  member  of  the  church  he 
was  the  first  to  serve  as  preacher.     Of  those  associated 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  67 

with  hini  in  both  the  early  and  the  later  Baptist  his- 
tory of  Waukesha  and  Wisconsin,  \ve  name  Mr.  W. 
D.  Bacon,  a  man  of  marked  executive  ability  and  a 
standi  friend  of  all  good  enterprises.  For  many 
years  he  was  a  valued  member  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  old  University  of  Chicago.  Churches 
in  Milwaukee,  E-acine,  Kenosha,  then  named  South- 
port,  soon  followed.  Rev.  Richard  Griffin  was  first 
upon  the  ground  in  Milwaukee  as  a  Baptist  preacher. 
By  him  tiie  First  Baptist  Church  in  that  city  was 
organized  on  November  19,  1836.  In  1841  it  be- 
came the  North  Greenfield  Church,  but  in  February, 
1812,  was  reorganized  by  Rev.  Peter  Conrad  as  the 
Baptist  Churcli  in  Milwaukee.  Mr.  Conrad  was 
followed  in  1844  by  Rev.  Lewis  Raymond,  whose 
ministry  there  and  at  Chicago  continued  during  many 
years.  At  Racine,  in  the  year  just  mentioned.  Rev. 
S.  Carr  was  pastor.  Rev.  James  Delany,  of  wliom 
there  will  be  more  to  say  soon,  found  him  there  on 
his  own  arrival  in  the  State  in  1844.  "  He  owned  the 
mere  shell  of  a  building  in  which  he  taught  a  private 
school.     The  church  worshiped  in  that  room.'' 

More  to  the  west  in  the  same  section  of  tlie  State, 
ministers  named  Lake  and  Burgess,  with  Rev.  Peter 
Conrad,  before  mentioned,  were  laboring,  the  churches 
of  East  Troy,  Mukwanago,  Spring  Prairie,  Geneva, 
and  Walworth  being  fruits  of  their  toil,  organization 
of  these  churches  occurring  between  the  dates  of  1837 
and  1842.  Especially  to  be  mentioned  is  Rev.  Henry 
Topping,  in  connection  with  whose  name  Rev.  James 


68       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Delany,  himself  one  of  the  pioneers,  as  we  shall  see, 
writes : 

Two  brothers,  members  of  a  church  in  Western  New  York, 
visited  Wisconsin  in  1836.  They  traversed  Walworth  County. 
A  tract  long  called  Delavan  became  a  magnet  to  them.  They 
bought  a  large  portion  of  it  at  the  government  price,  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  an  acre.  They  were  resolute 
Christians,  strong  temperance,  anti-slavery,  and  anti-secret- 
society  men.  Quite  a  colony  came  with  them  from  the  church 
in  New  York,  of  which  they  had  been  prominent  members. 
These  then  were  the  materials  for  a  new  church,  and  it  came 
to  view  in  due  time.  This  body — the  church  in  Delavan — has 
always  sustained  itself ;  it  has  never  been  a  beneficiary  for  one 
hour.  The  first  Baptist  church  edifice  in  Wisconsin  was  built 
by  this  church.  Its  offerings  to  benevolent  agencies  are  not 
trifles.  Elder  Henry  Topping  took  charge  of  this  excellent 
interest  somewhere  about  1839.  John  H.  Dudley  succeeded 
him  in  1844.  That  year  Rev.  H.  W.  Reed  came  from  Western 
New  York  and  took  charge  of  a  little  church  at  Whitewater, 
organized  two  years  before  by  Elder  Winchell,  its  first  pastor. 
A  cliurch  came  into  existence  at  Beloit  soon  after  1840,  a  sub- 
stantial meeting-house  being  built  in  1847.  That  has  always 
been  a  good  church. 

Another  of  Mr.  Delany's  characteristic  rsketches  we 
must  copy  : 

About  1836  came  a  family  from  Western  Virginia  to  the 
new  Territory.  A  slim-looking  boy  was  one  of  the  household. 
There  was  then  no  bridge  on  the  Milwaukee  River.  This 
modest  youth  first  crossed  the  stream  in  a  birch  canoe.  The 
family  settled  eight  miles  from  the  lake.  An  old-fashioned 
forest  was  around  them.  It  frowned  upon  them  and  seemed 
to  bid  defiance  to  the  rude  intrusion  they  resolved  to  make  on 
its  solitude.     There  were  some  busy  Methodists,  and  a  few 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  69 

Baptists  equally  active.  They  held  a  "protracted  meeting" 
in  a  log  cabiu.  The  boy  attended.  He  was  born  of  God.  He 
read  with  care  a  certain  book.  That  made  him  a  Baptist  of 
the  purest  water.  He  could  not  keep  still  in  meetings.  That 
gave  proof  that  he  must  preach.  Well,  lie  did  so.  He  made 
a  farm,  a  good  one,  and  lived  on  it.  He  formed  a  Baptist 
church.  He  became  its  first  pastor,  the  only  one  they  ever 
had  for  over  forty  j-ears.  He  rose  to  be  a  Christian  sage,  a 
Nestor  in  husbandry,  an  oracle  in  blameless  politics.  .  .  This 
grand  Christian  and  preacher  of  righteousness  was  E.  D. 
Underwood,  of  Wauwatosa. 

We  must  still  avail  ourselves  of  the  same  graphic 
pen,  with  a  view  to  exhibit  pioneer  Baptist  history  in 
Wisconsin  on  another  side  : 

In  the  mineral  region,  the  southwestern  section  of  the  State, 
a  good  deal  of  Baptist  activity  was  witnessed  and  felt  as  early 
as  1836.  In  Grant  County  is  a  landing  on  the  great  river. 
On  a  Sabbath  day  a  steamer  lay  at  anchor  there.  The  owner 
and  commander,  a  man  of  St.  Louis,  would  not  run  his  boat 
on  that  sacred  day.  He  and  some  of  his  crew  were  Baptists. 
They  went  ashore,  called  on  some  families,  shook  hands  with 
some  loafers,  rallied  enough  to  make  a  prayer  meeting.  The 
captain  could  talk  to  them  in  touching  style,  and  he  did  no 
doubt  talk  in  that  way.  IMen  looked  sober,  women  wept,  and 
the  meeting  closed.  I  have  been  credibly  informed  that  this 
was  the  first  Baptist  prayer  meeting  ever  held  in  Wisconsin. 
The  date  was  1828.  The  leader  was  Samuel  Smith,  afterward 
the  godly  Deacon  Smith  of  La  Crosse.  The  landing  was  called 
Cassville.  and  is  still  so  named.  In  that  region  N.  E.  Chapin, 
a  man  of  devout  heart,  labored  faithfully  quite  a  length  of 
time. 

Of  the  writer  of  these  sketches,  and  of  his  early 
experiences  in  Wisconsin,  we  must  now  speak.     A 


70      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

native  of  Ireland,  born  in  1804,  a  Roman  Catholic  in 
his  youth,  early  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  British 
army,  it  was  while  in  the  East  Indian  service,  as 
sucli,  that  tiie  change  came  which  was  to  make  his  life 
and  his  career  so  wonderfully  unlike  all  he  had  ever 
dreamed.  In  1830,  detailed  with  the  artillery  corps 
witii  which  he  was  connected  at  Madras,  on  a  special 
service  at  Moulmein,  Burma,  he  there  came  under 
tlie  preaching  and  the  influence  of  Rev.  Eugenic 
Ivincaid,  the  earnest  and  devoted  missionary.  He 
had  always  been  tender  to  religious  influences,  and 
in  his  earlier  life  appears  to  have  been  under  such  in 
the  form  they  do  sometimes  have  even  among  tlie 
Catholics.  Mr.  Kincaid's  preaching  laid  hold  upon 
his  convictions,  and  after  some  intense  experience  he 
became  a  hopeful  and  joyful  believer.  A  brother  of 
his  being  already  a  priest  in  the  Catholic  communion, 
it  was  not  surprising  that  liis  own  thoughts  should 
turn  in  the  direction  of  the  Christian  ministry.  Con- 
vei'sations  Avith  Dr.  Judson  as  to  openings  for  such 
labor  in  America,  finally  decided  him.  Procuring  his 
discharge  from  the  army  he  came  to  this  country,  and 
after  a  course  in  ministerial  study  at  Hamilton,  was 
ordained  at  Broadalbin,  N.  Y.,  in  1838.  After  pas- 
torates of  marked  useful uess  at  Ticonderoga,  Gran- 
ville, and  Iviugs!)ury,  in  the  same  State,  he  came  to 
Wisconsin  in  1844.  We  must  here  be  permitted  to 
quote  his  own  language  in  response  to  a  request  by 
the  writer  of  these  pages.  It  is  a  picture  of  pioneer 
ministerial  life  and  labor  worth  preserving : 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  71 

I  came  up  the  lakes  iu  1844.  In  Milwaukee  were  about 
four  thousand  souls,  young  and  not  young.  ^Vith  a  family  I 
landed  at  llacine  about  midnight,  under  a  drenching  rain.  I 
sought  and  found  a  man  to  whom  I  had  a  letter  of  introduc- 
tion. I  had  heard  of  Janesvillc,  and  reached  it,  thinking  it 
was  to  be  my  stopping  place.  Ten  or  twelve  miles  off  I  found 
a  few  Baptists.  Failing  utterly  to  find  even  a  woodshed  in 
which  to  shelter  a  family  of  six  members,  through  a  winter 
that  proved  bitter,  anywhere  in  that  new  village  of  Janesville, 
I  was  forced  to  accept  a  chance  that  came  to  me  in  the  other 
place.  The  chance  was  to  buy  a  small  piece  of  land  on  which 
stood  a  wooden  shell  that  could  not  well  be  called  a  building. 
This  arrangement  was  a  positive  necessity,  but  it  exhausted  a 
purse  that  was  not  deep,  and  never  full. 

We  must  retrench,  and  so  resolved  to  live  on  three  articles, 
bread,  potatoes,  meat,  if  these  could  be  procured.  Well, 
Jehovah-Jireh  was  thought  of,  and  his  loving-kindness  in- 
voked. I  found  some  potatoes  to  be  dug.  The  owner  gave 
me  the  seventh  bushel  for  digging  them.  My  share  was 
about  forty  bushels.  There  were  labor  and  capital,  but  no 
want  of  harmony,  no  jars.  Wheat  was  to  be  threshed.  Re- 
quested to  help,  I  did  so,  and  took  my  wages  in  wheat.  But 
it  had  to  be  hauled  by  an  ox-team  and  ground  in  a  mill 
twenty-eight  miles  away.  It  gave  us,  however,  bread  enough 
and  to  spare.  We  had  some  good  chairs.  One  of  our  neigh- 
bors wanted  such  things,  and  we  let  him  have  them  for  pork. 
Wooden  benches  became  substitutes  for  the  other  seats.  We 
had  no  candles,  but  we  w^ere  not  lightlcss  ;  lard,  aff(/rded  by 
our  pork,  took  the  place  of  lamp  oil.  We  had  no  eggs,  butter, 
cheese,  siTgar,  milk,  fish,  or  fowl.  Nothing  came  to  us  from 
China,  or  Rio,  or  any  other  foreign  land  or  market.  To  resist 
the  northern  blasts  I  banked  up  our  queer  domicile  almost  to 
the  eaves.  That  made  it  appear  inferior  to  a  dug-out.  Yet 
I  know  that  many  good  Christians,  manj'  noble  women  espe- 
cially, with  constitutions  painfully  frail,  suffered  darker  and 
sorer  privations. 


72      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

One  half  believes  that  there  might  be  appropriate 
quotation  in  tliis  connection  of  the  familiar  line  : 

Tantae  inolis  erat  Komanam  condere  gentem. 

The  writer  proceeds : 

Notwithstanding  all  tliose  difficulties,  evangelical  work  had 
to  be  done,  and  attempts  were  made  to  do  it.  The  first  Sunday 
in  October,  1844,  I  organized  the  Janesville  Baptist  Church. 
I  had  to  take  all  the  parts  of  the  service.  The  number  of  mem- 
bers was  thirteen,  eleven  women  and  two  men.  I  tried  to 
save  the  interest  along  that  winter.  There,  at  Janesville,  was 
the  county  seat  of  llock  County.  Religious  meetings  were  held 
in  the  court  room.  Four  denominations  used  it  in  turn  ;  the 
Baptist  was  one  of  them.  IMore  than  once  I  traveled  on  foot 
thirty  or  thirty-five  miles  to  engage  in  a  sermon.  For  years 
the  church  was  in  the  condition  of  a  weakly  inflint.  At  length 
appeared  a  j'oung  man,  not  the  product  of  any  college,  but  full 
of  sacred  zeal  that  came  from  a  tender  heart.  He  rallied,  en- 
couraged souls  by  personal  talks  and  public  addresses.  Fresh 
life  flowed  tlirough  the  whole  interest.  This  young  worker, 
0.  J.  Dearborn,  was  ordained  and  became  to  the  church  a 
successful  pastor.  He  was  followed  in  succession,  by  two  men 
who  afterward  appeared  as  brilliant  lights  in  Chicago,  Galusha 
Anderson  and  E.  J.  Goodspecd. 

Including  the  long,  devoted,  signally  able  and  fruit- 
ful ministry  of  Dr.  jNI.  G.  Hodge,  which  came  later, 
it  may  be  truly  said  that  few  churches  in  the  Western 
land  have  been  so  highly  favored  in  the  pastorates  en- 
joyed, appreciated,  and  sustained. 

Pioneer  history  must  ahvays,  of  necessity,  be  im- 
perfect. Only  a  few  even  amonix  representative  names 
can  be  chosen  for  such  a  purpose.     Happily  the  con- 


FIRST    ON    THE    FIELD  73 

nection  of  special  topics  in  our  general  subject  is  such 
that,  althougli  the  details  in  this  and  the  iminediatelv 
preceding  chapter  must  here  pause,  they  will  neces- 
sarily be  more  or  less  resumed  in  some  of  those  which 
follow. 


CHAPTER  ly 

CHUKCH    BEGINNINGS    IN    GENERAL 

ri^IIE  interest  early  manifested  by  people  of  the 
-"-.  older  Eastern  States  in  the  religious  condition  of 
those  portions  of  the  West  which,  as  the  century 
opened,  were  entering  upon  a  career  of  such  rapid  de- 
velopment, Avas  a  circumstance  highly  auspicious. 
This  interest,  besides,  in  certain  individual  cases  as- 
sumed a  form  quite  as  indicative  of  a  divine  call  as 
was  that  which  prompted  the  origination  of  missions  to 
the  heathen.  Two  conspicuous  examples  of  it  stand 
connected  with  the  organization  of  the  society  to 
which  Western  Baptists  owe  so  much.  The  two  men 
of  whom  we  thus  especially  speak  were  John  M.  Peck 
and  Jonathan  Going. 

A  certain  connection  between  those  great  movements 
in  the  Christian  enterprise  of  modern  times,  foreign 
and  home  missions,  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  it  was  very 
much  under  the  influence  of  Luther  Pice,  the  com- 
panion of  Judson  in  his  first  missionary  voyage,  but 
at  the  time  we  mention  called  home  with  a  view  to  in- 
terest American  Baptists  in  behalf  of  missions  to  the 
heathen,  that  Mr.  Peck  was  led  to  undertake  the  work 
which  he  was  to  ])rosecute  with  unflagging  zeal  to  the 
end  of  ins  long  life.  About  a  quarter  of  a  century  had 
74 


CHURCH    BEGINNINGS    IN    GENERAL  75 

elapsed  since  the  oro:aiiizatloii,  at  what  is  now  Cincin- 
nati, of"  the  first  Christian  ciiurch  north  and  Avest  of 
the  Ohio  River,"  when  the  two  men  we  have  named, 
Dr.  Rice  and  Mr.  Peck,  meeting  at  an  Association  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  fonnd  themselves  like-minded 
in  the  matter  of  missions  at  home  and  abroad.  This 
was  in  1815.  In  1816  Mr.  Peck  writes  thns  to  Dr. 
Staughton,  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Baptist  Tri- 
ennial Convention  :  "  Ever  since  1  have  thonght  upon 
the  subject  of  missions  I  have  had  my  eye  upon  the 
people  west  of  the  Mississippi,  particularly  the  Indian 
nations,  and  have  often  wondered  why  no  attempts 
were  made  to  send  the  gospel  to  them.  I  have 
often  thought  that  if  it  was  my  lot  to  labor  among  the 
heathen,  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  of  all  parts  of  the 
world,  would  be  my  choice."  ^  Receiving  an  appoint- 
ment from  the  Triennial  Convention,  INIr.  Peck  gives 
utterance  to  the  enthusiasm  with  which  he  enters  upon 
his  work  in  the  words :  "  It  is  my  desire  to  live,  to 
labor,  and  to  die  as  a  kind  of  pioneer  in  advancing 
the  gospel."  And  this  desire  was  granted  him  in 
"labors  abundant"  during  many  years,  and  until  the 
Western  frontier  had  been  moved  far  beyond  the  ])oint 
at  which  he  found  it. 

The  attention  of  Dr.  Going  M'as  drawn  to  the  needs 
of  the  West  by  letters  of  Mr.  Peck  sent  to  him,  as  an 
active  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Domestic  Mission- 
ary Society,  from  the  Western  field.     From  that  soci- 

'  Quoted  by  Dr.  H.  L.  Morehouse  in  "Baptist  Home  Missions 
in  North  America"  (Jubilee  Volume),  1882. 


76       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

ety  Mr.  Peck  had  received  aid  in  his  work  after  tlie 
Board  of  the  Triennial  Convention,  under  the  pressure 
of  claims  for  the  work  abroad,  had  withdrawn  its  own 
support.  Mr.  Peck's  correspondence  with  officers  of 
the  society,  as  also  with  members  of  it  like  Dr.  Going, 
had  done  much  to  awaken  interest  in  the  rapidly 
opening  field  beyond  the  lakes  and  the  river.  Mr. 
Peck  and  his  associates,  among  them  Rev.  James  E. 
Welch,  had  already  been  upon  the  Western  field  some 
fifteen  years,  when  it  was  finally  decided  that  Dr. 
Going,  then  a  pastor  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  Dr. 
Bolles  of  Boston,  should  visit  that  section  of  the 
Union,  with  a  view  to  learn  more  of  its  needs  and  its 
opportunities.  Dr.  Morehouse,  in  the  work  before 
cited,  quotes  from  the  correspondence  of  Dr.  Going 
while  upon  this  journey  of  exploration.  He  had 
just  passed  down  with  his  associates  in  the  journey 
from  Cleveland  and  Newark  to  Lancaster,  Ohio. 
Writing  under  date  of  May  27,  1831,  he  thus  de- 
scribes some  part  of  what  he  had  seen  :  "  The  popu- 
lation seems  to  be  a  sprout  just  cut  from  Babel.  Our 
passengers  from  Cleveland  to  Newark  in  the  Pittsburg 
canal  boat,  consisted  of  three  Connecticut  peddlers,  and 
four  families  who  were  emigrants  for  Cincinnati  ;  one 
of  them  English,  a  second  Scotch,  a  third  Irish,  and 
finally  a  German  one."  In  another  connection  he  is 
quoted  thus  :  "  I  have  formed  a  short  acquaintance 
with  some  half  a  hundred  Ohio  Baptist  ministers. 
Though  they  are  generally  illiterate,  they  appear  to 
be  pious^  and  many  of  them  devoted  servants  of  our 


CHURCH    BEGINNINGS    IN    GENERAL  77 

dear  Lord.  They  exhibit  a  motley  appearance,  dressed 
in  all  kinds  of  garbs  and  colors." 

This  visit  of  Dr.  Going  to  the  Western  field,  and 
the  reports  brought  back  by  himself  and  Dr.  Bolles, 
resulted,  as  is  well  known,  in  the  organization  of  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  in  the  Mul- 
berry Street  Baptist  meeting-house,  New  York  City, 
April  28,  1832. 

It  would  be  of  interest  to  a  record  such  as  we  are 
here  making,  if  it  could  be  known  how  much  at  the 
date  of  tliis  organization  had  been  accomplished  in 
Baptist  occupancy  of  the  field  of  our  present  survey. 
Although  between  thirty  and  forty  years  had  elapsed 
since  the  work  began  in  the  first  church  organization 
at  what  is  now  Cincinnati,  the  conditions  under  which 
churches  were  planted  and  other  organizations  effected 
had  been  wholly  unfavorable  to  any  record  upon  which 
reliance  could  now  be  absolutely  placed.  While  a  few 
of  those  engaged  in  this  frontier  service,  receiving  aid 
either  from  the  Domestic  Missionary  Society  of  Massa- 
chusetts, or  from  the  New  York  Baptist  State  Conven- 
tion, as  before  mentioned,  made  reports  to  these  organ- 
izations, such  reports  were  necessarily  in  the  main  con- 
fined to  incidents  and  results  of  their  own  ministry, 
while  far  the  greater  part  of  what  was  going  forward 
must  have  been  quite  beyond  their  means  of  informa- 
tion. 

Indeed,  the  work  done  on  the  field  during  tin's 
nascent  period  of  Baptist  growth  was  almost  wholly 
by  volunteers  in  the  service,  to  whom  scarcely  any 


78       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

thing  was  of  less  moment,  or  by  them  was  less  ex- 
pected, than  special  compensation  from  any  quarter,  or 
appointment  to  labor  from  any  source.  Their  means 
of  support  they  found  very  mucli  as  other  pioneers 
dill,  in  creating  for  themselves  homes  and  farms  in  tlie 
wilderness,  or  in  the  game  they  captured,  with  V)atient 
acceptance  of  whatever  of  vicissitude,  or  even  privation, 
might  fall  to  their  lot.  Seeking  amid  the  vast  wilder- 
ness which  for  years  was  their  tield,  or  far  and  wide 
upon  the  lonely  prairie,  for  the  Good  Siiepherd's  scat- 
tered flocks,  or  obeying  such  calls  for  service  as  reached 
them  from  far  and  near,  intent  upon  their  work,  they 
gave  little  thought,  perhaps  none  at  all,  to  the  fact 
that  a  time  might  come  when  history  would  dearly 
prize  every  faded  leaf  of  record  which  should  afford 
glimpses  of  their  story. 

A  few  such  glimpses,  happily,  are  afforded  us — one 
in  a  paper  which  describes  early  church  planting  in 
Michigan.  Mention  having  been  made  of  men  first 
on  the  field  of  what  was  then  still  a  Territory,  the 
writer  proceeds : 

These  bretliren  wrought  at  a  time  of  great  privation,  and  often 
went  from  settlement  to  settlement  on  foot,  by  Indian  trails, 
and  over  poor  roads,  shared  the  scanty  fare  of  the  pioneers, 
and  received  only  very  limited  support.  One  of  them  says, 
that  having  the  care  of  two  churches,  he  preached  during  one 
year  in  twenty-two  schoolhouses,  fourteen  dwellings,  nine 
barns,  three  meeting-houses,  and  one  mill,  traveled  on  foot 
and  on  horseback  one  thousand  five  hundred  miles,  and  re- 
ceived toward  his  support  seventy  dollars.  Another  who  lived 
in  Ionia  in  1833,  says  :  "  Our  nearest  post-office  was  in  Grand 


CHURCH    BEGINNINGS    IN    GENERAL  79 

Rapids,  tLirty-fivc  miles  distaat,  and  the  mail  was  brought  to 
that  office  from  Kalamazoo  once  in  three  months."  ^ 

Considering  all  these  circumstances,  it  must  be  sup- 
posed that  Dr.  Going  had  in  view  more  or  less  an  es- 
timate merely,  when  in  his  letter  of  resignation  as 
pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  on 
his  return  from  his  Western  tour,  speaking  of  the 
region  he  had  so  recently  visited,  we  find  him  saying: 
"  It  is  known  that  the  larger  proportion  of  the  people 
are  destitute  of  the  means  of  salvation,  while  probably 
a  thousand  Bapfid  cJiurches  are  ^viihont  preaching 
every  Sabbath  "  (italics  our  own) ;  that  is,  have  only 
occasional  preaching.  Although  his  language  has  ref- 
erence, no  doubt,  to  the  entire  Western  field,  including 
Missouri,  still  his  estimate  seems  large,  especially 
when  it  is  considered  that  of  our  five  States,  only 
three  can  be  included,  no  church  having  yet,  at  the 
time  we  are  considering,  been  organized  in  Wisconsin, 
and  less  than  a  score  in  INIichigan,  while  in  Illinois  it- 
self there  was  as  yet  no  Baptist  church  north  of  Peoria. 

Another  estimate,^  based,  no  doubt,  upon  statistics, 
places  the  number  of  churches  then  upon  the  entire 
Western  field  at  not  far  from  nine  hundred.  Yet 
another  careful  and  skillful  statistician  ^  finds  the  num- 

^  Kev.  A.  E.  Mather,  d.  d.,  in  a  paper  upon  "The  Men  who 
Wrought,"  read  at  the  semi-centennial  of  the  Michigan  State 
Convention,  1886. 

2  Dr.  H.  C.  Woods,  in  his  address  upon  "Home  Mission  Pion- 
eers," at  the  Denver  Anniversaries  in  1893. 

^  T.  M  Shanafelt,  D.  c,  in  a  paper  read  at  the  Michigan  semi- 
centennial, 1886. 


80       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

ber  of  churches  in  four  of  these  five  States,  not  including 
Wisconsin  or  any  part  of  the  trans-Mississippi  field, 
to  be  in  1836,  five  years  later  than  our  present  date, 
one  thousand  and  twenty -five;  ministers,  five  hun- 
dred and  tliirty-sevcn ;  and  membership,  thirty-six 
thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty. ^  Still  other  figures 
we  find  in  a  circular  letter  of  the  South  District  As- 
sociation (Friends  of  Humanity),  Illinois,  written  by 
Andy  Kinney,  of  Missouri.  The  date  of  the  letter 
is  1835,  but  the  statistics  given  are  for  a  date  three 
years  earlier,  1832.  In  tiie  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
and  Illinois,  we  find  the  number  of  churches  placed 
at  six  hundred  and  fifty-one  and  the  membership 
at  twenty-six  thousand  three  hundred  and  nineteen. 
If  we  add  to  the  total  churches  just  given,  six 
hundred  and  fifry-one,  those  reported  for  Missouri, 
one  hundred  and  forty-six,  and  seventeen  for  Michi- 
gan, we  have  eight  hundred  and  fourteen  churches  on 
the  field  covered  by  Dr.  Going's  estimate.  Even  tak- 
ing into  account  the  fact  that  many  a  *'  church  in  the 
wilderness"  must  have  failed  to  report  itself  for  men- 
tion in  the  record,  his  ''  probably  a  thousand  Baptist 
churches  "  destitute  of  stated  preacliing  could  hardly 
at  that  time  have  been  found  within  the  territory 
named.     Dr.  Woods'  estimate  may,  we  should  think, 


1  The  details  are  as  follows :  Michigan,  3  Associations,  54 
churches,  28  ministers,  2,000  members;  Ohio,  26  Associations,  368 
churches,  199  ministers,  14,290  members;  Indiana,  24  Associa- 
tions, 358  churches,  IGO  ministers,  13,058  members;  Illinois,  21 
Associations,  250  churches,  150  ministers,  7,112  members. 


CHURCH    BEGINNINGS    IN    GENERAL  81 

be  taken  as  not  far  from  correct,  namely,  niue  hun- 
dred. 

There  is  evidence  that  the  multiplication  of  churches 
and  growth  in  membership  during  tliese  initial  years, 
was  after  all  very  rapid  ;  much  more  rapid  than  per- 
haps might  at  first  be  thought  likely.  This  was  in 
harmony  with  what  is  known  of  the  remarkably 
rapid  development  in  population.  Wiien,  in  1826, 
the  Ohio  Baptist  State  Convention  was  organized,  we 
find  the  originators  of  that  movement  saying  that 
Ohio,  which  had  then  been  a  State  only  during  less 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  had  an  estimated  })opu- 
lation  of  seven  hundred  thousand,  while  the  number 
of  Baptists  in  the  State  w'as  placed  at  seven  thousand.  ^ 
The  advance  of  population  in  Indiana  and  Illinois 
must  have  been  somewhat  less,  as  the  former  of  tiiese 
acquired  Statehood  only  in  1816.  and  the  latter  in 
1818  ;  yet  at  the  time  of  Dr.  Going's  visit  Indiana 
had  been  a  State  during  fifteen  years,  and  Illinois 
thirteen. 

It  is  to  be  considered  besides,  how  many  things 
would  favor  a  rapid  multiplication  of  churches. 
Wherever  in  any  settlement,  however  much  in  the 
heart  of  the  wilderness  or  far  remote  u])on  the  prairie, 
a  few  like-minded  Christians  would  find  themselves 


*  We  give  in  this  case  also  the  other  details:  Ohio,  21  Asso- 
ciations, 280  churches,  142  ordained  ministers,  24  licentiates, 
10,493  members;  Indiana,  21  Associations,  219  churches,  152  or- 
dained ministers,  49  licentiates,  11,334  members;  Illinois,  15  As- 
sociations, 152  churches,  107  ordained  ministers,  16  licentiates, 
4,492  members. 

F 


82       HISTORY  OF  RATTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

brought  together,  often  perhaps  with  little  anticipa- 
tion of  such  an  incident  in  their  pioneer  life,  they 
would  be  quite  sure  to  seek  some  opportunity  for  the 
enjoyment  of  Christian  privilege.  Hence  the  social 
meeting  and  soon  the  church.  It  would  not  be  so 
much  a  question  as  lo  means  for  maintaining  a  stated 
ministry,  as  provision  for  such  opportunity  of  wor- 
sliip  and  mutual  helpfulness  as  should  sustain  their 
Ciiristian  life  nn^ier  conditions  so  unfavorable,  and 
preserve  their  families  from  becoming  neglectful  of 
religion  altogether.  We  have  noticed  one  instance 
already,  that  of  the  little  church  at  New  Design, 
Illinois,  wdiere  the  lack  of  a  preacher  was  supplied 
by  the  reading  of  a  sermon,  and  in  that  connection 
also,  an  example  of  the  manner  in  which  the  preacher, 
in  his  itinerancy,  with  little  or  no  opportunity  to  send 
forward  announcement  of  his  coming,  might  a2')pear 
suddenly  and  unexpectedly  among  them. 

In  Our  study  of  the  process  by  which  the  region  in 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  now  under  view,  and  at 
the  early  date  to  which  we  limit  ourselves  for  the 
present,  was  sown  with  churches  lo  the  extent  inti- 
mated, much  account  must  be  made  of  the  missionary 
itinerancy,  then  so  indispensable.  The  methods  of 
that  itinerancy  are  thus  summarized  by  a  skillful  pen  : 

Followinir  up  the  new  settlements,  looking  iip  the  scattered 
members  of  Eastern  flocks,  confirming  the  fliith  of  those  liv- 
ing without  religious  privileges,  reclaiming  the  wanderer, 
pointing  the  unconverted  to  Christ,  preaching  publicly  and 
from  house  to  house,  under  trees,  in  log  cabins,  or  wherever 


CHURCH    BEGINNINGS    IN    GENERAL  83 

a  place  can  be  found,  cstablisliing  prayer  meetings,  organizing 
churclies  and  Sunday-schools,  distributing  Bibles  and  tracts, 
raising  money  for  meeting-houses,  baptizing  in  the  streams  of 
the  wilderness — these  are  some  of  the  things  entering  into 
the  service  of  pioneer  missionaries  as  they  itinerate  through 
the  new  sections  of  the  West.  ^ 

An  example  may  be  seen  in  this  following  extract 
from  a  report  by  Rev.  John  M.  Peck,  writing  to  the 
JNEassachusetts  Domestic  Mi.~sionary  Society  in  1822  : 

I  have  been  absent  from  home  fifty-three  days  ;  have  trav- 
eled through  eighteen  counties  in  Illinois  and  nine  in  Indiana, 
rode  nine  hundred  and  twenty-six  miles,  preached  regular  ser- 
mons thirty-one  times,  besides  delivering  several  speeches, 
addresses,  and  lectures.  I  have  been  enabled  to  revive  three 
Bible  Societies  which  would  never  have  been  reorganized  but 
for  my  visit ;  to  establish  seven  new  societies,  to  visit  and 
give  instruction  in  the  management  of  two  societies  which 
had  been  formed  without  my  aid,  and  to  i^rovide  for  the  for- 
mation of  four  others.  I  have  aided  in  forming  three  Sab- 
bath-school societies,  and  in  opening  several  schools  where  no 
societies  exist,  and  improved  important  opportunities  to  aid 
the  great  cause  in  various  ways.'' 

That  "  division  of  labor "  which  is  now  carried 
to  such  perfection  in  frontier  work  v/as  evidently  then 
not  thought  of  The  itinerant  Baptist  preacher  was 
home  missionary,  revivalist,  Bible  agent,  Sunday- 
school  missionary,  all  in  one,  with  miscellaneous  ser- 
vice in  "speeches,  addresses,  and  lectures."  Many 
of  the  duties  of  pastor  would  also  fall  to  his  share : 

^  Dr.  H.  L.  Morehouse  in  "Baptist  Home  Missions,"  p.  525. 
-  Quoted  by  Dr.  Morehouse  in  footnote  on  p.  304. 


84      niSTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

house-to-hoase  visitation,  leadership  in  the  discipline 
as  well  as  in  the  formation  of  churches,  with  frequent 
baptisms  in  "  the  streams  of  the  wilderness." 

Of  one  of  these  itineiants,  Kev.  John  Lee,  whose 
name  even,  at  this  late  date,  can  be  known  to  but  few, 
the  following  has  been  furnished  us  : 

John  Lee  was  a  very  unique  man  ;  nobody  like  liim.  Born 
and  reared  in  England,  uneducated  in  the  school  sense,  with 
much  of  the  Yorkshire  accent  and  a  large  share  of  inherited 
devotion,  he  cams  to  America  when  quite  a  j'ouug  man  and 
entered  the  ministry.  His  natural  abihties  were  fine.  His  in- 
spirations all  centered  in  the  gospel.  The  Bible  was  his 
whole  library,  and  it  is  astonishing  how  thorouglily  conver- 
sant he  was  in  it.  He  seemed  to  have  no  inclination  to  the 
pastorate.  He  was  not  an  evangelist,  not  a  revivalist,  in  the 
modern  sense  of  the  word.  He  was  an  itinerant,  always  float- 
ing from  place  to  place.  A  good,  safe,  sound,  earnest  preacher, 
tlioroughly  Baptistic,  and  always,  everywhere,  cordially  wel- 
comed. His  want  of  refinement  was  overbalanced  by  his 
known  and  acknowledged  innate  goodness.  He  was  a  living 
exemplification  of  the  doctrine  he  preached.  He  would  visit 
all  parts  of  Southern  Missouri  and  Southwestern  Illinois,  with 
a  little  bundle  tied  up  in  a  handkerchief  swung  on  his  shoulders, 
a  walking-stick  in  hand.  John  Bunyan,  the  tinker,  was  no 
more  at  home  in  the  Bible,  more  bluntly  to  the  point  in  phrase, 
than  was  this  John  Lee.  LTncouth,  awkward,  ungrammatical 
as  he  was,  the  stranger  soon  realized  that  he  was  no  ordinary 
man  in  the  pulpit.  He  never  married,  but  lived  and  died  an 
unmarried  man.  How  he  managed  to  have  bread  to  live  on, 
but  few  knew.  He  never  would  allow  a  church  to  pay  him 
for  his  labors,  nor  would  he  accept  missionary  money.  The 
facts  were  that  a  few  benevolent  friends  in  St.  Louis  main- 
tained him  in  the  work  to  whicli  he  gave  up  his  life.  ^ 
1  W.  F.  Boyakii^ 


CHURCH    BEGINNINGS    IN    GENERAL  85 

This  instance  may  perhaps  represent  a  class.  It  is 
not,  however,  to  be  ."supposed  that  it  represents  pioneer 
itinerancy  in  these  States  in  general.  There  were 
cultivated  men  engaged  in  this  self-denying  labor, 
with  gifts  whicii  woidd  have  won  distinction  in  other 
spheres  of  ministerial  service.  Such  distinction,  in- 
deed, was  ultimately  gained  by  many  of  them  in 
their  later  life,  when  "  the  little  one  "  in  whose  nur- 
ture they  shared  had  "  become  a  thousand,"  and  "  the 
small  one  a  strong  nation." 

One  of  these,  named  once  already  in  these  pages,  is 
still  living  (1894),  William  M.  Pratt,  d.  d.  We 
may  instance  his  early  career,  as  described  by  Presi- 
dent Stott,  for  an  example  of  the  manner  in  whicli 
itinerancy  in  missionary  service  associated  itself  with 
other  work  indicative  of  culture  and  versatility.  On 
arriving  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  he  served  there 
as  pastor,  and  at  the  same  time  founded  and  carried  on 
a  school  for  young  ladies.  '*  Dr.  Pratt,"  says  our  cor- 
respondent, ''  was  a  man  of  so  large  mind  and  heart 
that  his  influence  rapidly  extended.  He  preached  the 
gospel  with  stich  power  that  men  were  constrained  to 
bow  down  to  God.  .  .  He  was  so  self  ]ioised  that  noth- 
ing ever  disturbed  his  jiresence  of  mind."  His  instru- 
mentality in  the  founding  of  the  churches  at  South 
Bend,  Mishawaka,  Logansport,  and  Lafayette,  has  al- 
ready been  mentioned. 

Another  example  of  an  association  by  an  educated 
man  of  various  labors  in  the  founding  of  clnirchcs 
was  that  of  Rev.  W.   F.    Boyakin,   by  whom    the 


8G       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  AVPZSTERN  STATES 

church  at  Salem,  Illinois,  was  gathered,  and  at  the 
same  time  a  school  opened  which  grew,  in  time,  into 
an  academy  for  young  women.  Later,  in  1  S43,  Mr. 
Boyakin  lieeaiue  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in 
Belleville,  an  important  center  in  tiiat  part  (jf  the 
Slate.  Here  he  was  brought  into  association  with  re- 
markable men,  influential  like  himself  in  the  early 
Baptist  history  of  the  State.  Prominent  among 
them  was  Rev.  James  PuUiam,  who  came  to  Illinois 
not  long  after  the  Lemens.  Upon  what  was  origin- 
ally his  farm,  tlie  city  of  Belleville,  it  is  said,  now 
stands.  Belleville  was  the  county-seat  of  the  first 
county  organized  within  the  limits  of  the  then  Terri- 
tory, and  of  its  church,  one  of  the  earliest  to  be  founded 
within  tlie  Territory,  Mr.  PuUiam  was  the  first  j)astor. 
Mr.  PuUiam,  while  sharing  in  the  kind  of  service 
then  expected  of  a  minister,  was  a  man  of  wealth,  as 
wealth  was  then  estimated,  and  gave  liberally  of  his 
means  in  meeting  the  various  demands  uf  missionary 
service  in  the  regions  around. 

Connected  with  the  kind  of  labor  of  which  we 
have  spoken,  incidents  often  highly  picturesque  oc- 
curred Avhich  we  find  from  time  to  time  mentioned  in 
such  current  record  as  lias  been  preserved.  One  of 
these  we  may  select  as  an  illustration.-  It  is  based 
upon  the  report  of  a  missionary  in  Illinois: 

The  meeting  was  held  in  Pike  County,  at  Pleasant  Yale. 
We  had  no  meeting-house,  hut  log  huts  were  erected  around 
the  preaching  ground.  The  preaching  stand  was  raised  on 
two  logs  under  a  wide-spread  oak  ;  a  beautiful  spring,  rising 


CHURCH    BEGINNINGS   IN   GENERAL  87 

in  the  viciuity,  formed  a  creek  whicli  skirted  one  side  of 
the  ground  we  occupied,  aud  furnished  the  most  agreeable 
convenience  for  baptizing.  The  shade  of  the  trees  which 
skirted  the  adjoining  woods,  a  clear  skj',  and  the  presence  of 
a  large,  serious,  inquiring,  delighted  congregation,  together 
with  the  generous  hospitality  which  was  used  on  the  occasion, 
all  contributed  to  render  this  a  meeting  of  most  interesting 
character.  But  the  best  of  all  was,  God  was  there  in  power 
and  much  mercy.  It  was  indeed  a  season  of  peculiar  refresh- 
ing to  Christians,  and  many  were  convinced  and  converted  to 
God.^ 

Different   in   character  is  the  followino:,   from  the 
same  official  source,     A  missionary  writes  : 

Having  an  appointment  in  the  court-house  at ,  a 


Eoman  Catholic  was  hired  to  keep  the  people  out  of  the  court- 
house. He  accordingly  took  two  guns,  which  he  loaded,  and 
swore  that  he  would  shoot  the  first  preacher  tliat  darkened  the 
door.  Apprised  of  these  movements,  we  met  in  the  suburbs 
of  the  town,  under  the  shade  of  a  beautiful  elm  tree,  where  I 
blew  the  silver  trumpet  of  the  gospel  to  a  crowd  of  attentive 
hearers. 

Associated  with  tlie  planting  of  churches  now  cen- 
ters of  populous  and  refined  communities,  are  other 
incidents  which  help  to  reproduce  tlie  surroundings 
amid  which  such  beginnings  were  made.  We  select 
for  this  purpose  the  beautiful  town  of  Granville,  Ohio, 
notable  in  the  educational  history  of  the  country  as 
the  seat  of  Denison  University.  This  portion  of  the 
State  was  first  settled  by  families  who  had  originally 
come  from  Y/ales,  and  who,  after  a  tf^^mporary  resi- 

1  Annual  Report  of  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society 
for  1839. 


88       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

dence  in  Pennsylvania,  finally  came  to  Ohio  and  fixed 
their  homes  at  what  is  still  the  center  of  a  Welsh  com- 
munity, bearing  the  name  of  Welsh  Hills,  some  three 
miles  i'rom  Granville.  The  patriarch  of  this  commu- 
nity was  Theophilus  Rees,  described  as  "  a  gentleman 
aud  a  scholar,  a  man  of  intelligence,  integrity,  and  of 
great  usefulness  to  his  countrymen  and  the  church." 
This  gentleman,  in  1802,  made  his  home  "  in  tlie  wil- 
derness about  one  mile  and  a  half  north  of  the  pres- 
ent village  of  Granville."  Three  years  later,  in  No- 
vember, 1805,  the  Granville  Company  took  possession 
of  the  site  where  the  village  of  Granville,  with  its 
prosperous  schools,  now  stands. 

The  incident  we  are  to  relate  describes  a  most  wel- 
come surprise  with  which  Mr.  Rees  was  greeted  on  a 
Sabbath  morning  in  1805.  During  three  years  no 
opportunity  had  occurred  of  participation  in  exercises 
of  religious  worship.  His  cows  had  strayed  away, 
and  one  Sunday,  iiearing  a  lowing  of  cattle  which 
tnrned  out  to  be  those  of  the  Granville  colony, — of 
whose  arrival  he  had  not  heard, — he  set  out  toward 
them,  thinking  they  were  his  own  without  any  d(jubt. 
As  he  ascended  the  hills  overlooking  the  town  plat,  he 
heard  the  singing  of  the  new  settlers  in  the  act  of 
])ublic  worship.  He  stopped  till  by  accurate  listening 
he  caught  the  direction  of  the  sound,  and  went  on 
over  the  brow  of  the  hill,  where  he  saw  on  the  level 
before  him,  a  congregation  engaged  in  public  worship 
in  the  forest.  On  reaching  home  he  informed  his 
wife  of  what  he  had  seen,  adding,  "  These  must  be 


CHURCH    BEGINNINGS    IN    GENERAL  89 

good  people,  I  am  not  afraid  to  go  among  them  "  ;  and 
thongli  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  English  lan- 
guage, he  enjoyed  with  much  relish  the  ojjportunity 
thus  unexpectedly  provided.' 

In  1808,  a  Welsh  Baptist  cliurch  was  organized  at 
AVelsh  Hills,  which  continued  to  be  known  as  the 
First  Regular  Baptist  Church  of  Granville,  the  settle- 
ment where  it  was  planted  being  within  the  limits  of 
Granville  Township,  In  1819  the  Baptist  church  in 
the  village  of  Granville  was  founded,  and  the  former 
church  tlien  took  the  name  of  the  Welsh  Hills  Bap- 
tist Church,  which  it  still  retains. 

It  must  be  with  a  thrill  of  interest  that  the  present 
generation  of  Baptists  in  that  interesting  locality  re- 
calls the  gathering  of  worshipers  in  the  heart  of  what 
was  then  a  wilderness,  although  now  a  region  re- 
deemed and  beautified  with  what  is  best  in  civilization, 
and  the  thankful  joy  with  Avhich  the  songs  of  Zion 
were  heard  echoing  among  the  tree-tops  and  along  the 
lonely  hills. 

Tiie  church  life  and  the  type  of  Christian  character 
developed  under  conditions  such  as  Ave  here  describe, 
are  deserving  of  particular  mention.  That  these 
should  take  their  tone,  more  or  less,  from  the  manner 
of  life  generally  inseparable  from  circumstances  such 
as  accompany  the  settlement  of  new  regions,  more  es- 
pecially when  means  of  inter-communication  between 
these  and  the  older  ones  left  behind  are  verv  imper- 

*  Howe's   "History    of  Ohio,"   quoted  by  Isaac  Smucker  in 
"■History  of  the  Welsh  Settlement  in  Licking  County,  Ohio." 


90       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

feet,  was  inevitable.  Western  character  and  AYestern 
life,  in  general,  assumed  characteristics  of  tlieir  own, 
and  of  this,  church  life  and  Christian  character  largely 
partook.  In  many  things  tlic  points  of  contrast 
were  upon  the  whole  favorable  to  the  new  communi- 
ties. Energy  of  character  would  naturally  result 
from  encounter  with  such  an  environment  as  the 
Western  man  found  himself  confronting.  When  the 
pioneer  or  the  pioneer  minister  must  even  go  to  his 
place  of  worship  with  his  gun  in  his  hand,  prepared 
for  encounter  with  Indians  or  with  savage  beasts,  he 
would  naturally  acquire  a  habit  of  dealing  with  even 
hard  conditions  of  life  in  a  spirit  of  manly  constancy, 
and  witli  courage  not  easily  daunted.  The  manner  of 
life  on  the  frontier,  besides,  always  lends  to  develop  a 
freedom  of  idea  and  habit  as  to  social  customs  such  as 
in  older  communities  might  attract  unfavorable  atten- 
tion, yet  be  matters  of  course  in  the  newer  ones. 

Of  those  peculiariiies  the  religious  life  naturally 
partook.  An  effect  was  seen  in  two  directions.  Some, 
the  spirit  of  Western  life,  its  freedom  from  all  bond- 
age of  custom  and  routine,  predisposed  toward  the  re- 
ception of  new  doctrines  and  practices  in  religion,  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  prepare  a  way  for  whosoever 
might  come  declaring  "  some  new  tiling."  Upon  the 
other  hand.  Western  sturdiness  might  be  expected  to 
brace  itself  as^ainst  innovation  of  every  kind,  in  such 
a  degree  as  to  carry  orthodoxy  itself  to  an  extreme. 
Upon  the  whole,  the  type  of  Christian  character  and 
of  church  life  so  developed  was  a  noble  one.     No- 


CUURCH    BEGINNINGS    IN    GENERAL  91 

where  upon  tlie  continent  were  Baptists  as  a  rule  more 
true  to  liintlamental  principles  and  New  Testament 
standards  in  faiih  ami  practice  than  in  these  Western 
Srates.  Nowhere  were  the  responsibilities  of  a  test- 
ing situation  more  loyally  met,  or  the  hard  work  of 
laying  foundations  done  more  in  a  spirit  of  loyalty 
and  fidelity. 

Many  things,  no  doubt,  were  divisive  in  their  neces- 
sary influence  and  elFect.  Dr.  Daniel  Sliopardson 
writes  as  follows: 

Tlie  ministers  of  the  period  were  not,  as  a  rule,  liberally 
educated,  and  the  cliurches  were  not  generally  tauglit  to  send 
the  gospel  to  tlie  heathen.  They  had  come  together  from 
different  quarters  with  different  views.  The  Bible  vvas  su- 
preme authority,  but  its  teaching  was  differently  understood. 
Some  of  the  people  were  Arminiaus,  but  a  large  number  were 
Oalviuists.  Some  believed  in  the  use  of  means  to  a  certain 
extent,  but  were  careful  not  to  take  the  work  out  of  the  hands 
of  God.  Bible,  tract,  and  missionary  societies,  with  Sunday- 
schools,  were  not  found  in  the  word  of  God.  It  might  be 
right  for  a  person  to  teach  his  own  children  on  Sunday,  to  call 
in  the  children  of  his  neighbors,  to  ask  capable  instructors  to 
help,  etc.,  but  still,  a  Sunday-school  was  a  human  notion  not 
authorized  in  the  Scriptures.  So  it  might  be  right  to  teach 
the  gospel  to  impenitent  neighbors,  or  even  to  the  Indians, 
whether  near  at  hand  or  hundreds  of  miles  distant.  But  the 
Bible  saj^s  nothing  about  missionary  societies.  The  anti-mis- 
sion spirit  was  not  fully  developed  for  some  thirty  years  ;  yet 
the  processes  of  its  growth  are  here  very  clearly  seen.  Anti- 
slavery  views  also  abounded,  while  even  at  a  very  early  day 
thei'e  were  churches  which  refused  fellowship  with  churches  in 
the  South  because  of  slavery. 

One  example  we  may  give  of  the  manner  in  which, 


92      HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

in  the  lack  of  siicli  generally  accepted  articles  of  faith 
as  are  now  in  use,  churches  on  this  Western  iield  in 
their  organization  constructed  articles  for  themselves. 
The  church  in  Dixon,  Illinois,  originating  under  the 
ministry  of  Jxcv.  Thomas  Powell,  dates  its  record 
from  the  year  1838.  Sixteen  articles  of  faith  were 
adopted,  simple  in  form,  but  fundamental  and  com- 
prehensive. 

(1)  We  believe  in  the  existence  of  Grod,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
Scriijtures  ;  (2)  the  original  happiness  and  present  depravity 
of  man ;  (3)  tlie  atonement  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  (-4)  tlie  ef- 
fectual operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  conviction  and  regen- 
eration of  sinners ;  (5)  the  necessity  of  repentance  for  sin, 
faith  in  the  Redeemer,  and  obedience  to  tlie  gospel  in  heart 
and  life  ;  (G)  justification  by  faith,  imputed  righteousness  ;  (7) 
sanctificatioQ  by  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  (8)  the  perse- 
verance of  the  saints  to  eternal  glory  ;  (9)  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead  and  general  judgment ;  (10)  the  perfect  happiness  of  the 
righteous  and  the  endless  misery  of  the  finally  impenitent ;  (1 1) 
we  also  recognize  the  independence  of  every  gospel  church, 
the  ordinance  of  baptism,  and  the  Lord's  Supper;  (12)  bap- 
tism to  be  administered  by  immersion  only,  and  on  credible 
profession  of  faith  ;  (13)  baptism  and  conformity  to  the  gos- 
pel preparatory  to  communion  at  the  Lord's  table ;  (14)  the 
office  of  pastor  and  deacon  in  each  church  ;  (15)  the  sacred 
observance  of  the  Lord's  Day  as  a  day  of  Christian  worship  ; 
(If))  the  duty  of  praying  and  laboring  to  sustain  the  gospel 
ministry  and  diffuse  the  influence  of  truth  throughout  the 
world.  ^ 

1  From  a  historical  paper  read  at  the  "roll-call  "  of  the  Dixon 
Baptist  Church,  at  its  fiftieth  anniversary,  October  24,  1893,  by 
Mr.  J.  T.  Little. 


CHURCH    BEGINNINGS    IN   GENERAL  03 

In  another  paper,  read  ujion  the  occasion  mentioned 
in  the  foregoing  footnote,'  sketches  are  given  of 
members  prominent  in  the  early  iiistory  of  the  same 
church,  some  of  which  illustrate  the  Christian  hospi- 
talities that  relieved  the  hardship  and  loneliness  of 
pioneer  life.  The  city  took  its  name  from  that  of  one 
of  its  founders,  of  whose  wife  it  is  said  : 

Mother  Dixon,  as  slie  was  familiai'ly  and  reverently  called, 
was  one  of  those  noble  women  through  whose  lives  and  labors 
tiie  world  is  made  better.  The  whole  aim  of  her  Hie  seemed 
to  be  to  serve  her  Master  with  her  whole  heart  and  strength. 
.  .  .  Her  kindness  to  the  poor,  her  care  of  the  sick,  her  cor- 
dial welcome  to  the  stranger,  and  her  hearty  God-speed  to 
the  traveler,  remain  as  sweet  memories  to  many  yet  living. 

The  time  had  not  yet  come,  at  least  in  the  West,  for 
that  active  interest  in  movements  of  Christian  enter- 
prise and  reform  upon  a  large  scale,  seen  of  late  years 
among  Christian  women  of  our  own  and  other  coun- 
tries. The  Western  wife  and  mother  was  none  the 
less  a  gracious  f  )rce  to  be  accounted  of  among  those 
who  have  created  Western  society  and  Western  life  in 
their  best  forms.  Her  kindly  greeting  to  the  lonely 
and  weary  traveler,  her  fortitude  under  circumstances 
so  unlike  those  under  which  her  own  life  may  have 
begun,  her  tender  assiduities  in  the  home  circle,  how- 
ever rude  the  surroundings — these  in  such  instances 
as  many  yet  living  can  recall,  are  worthy  of  distinct 
mention  as  among  the  influences  which  have  made 
Western  society  what  it  now  is. 

1  By  Prof.  Eli  C.  Smith. 


CHAPTER  V 

AT   THE    CHIEF    CENTERS 

BltlEF  mention  has  already  been  made  of  the 
[)hinting  of  churches  in  Cincinnati,  Detroit,  ^lil- 
waukee,  and  Chicago.  Additional  particulars  of 
early  history  at  these  points,  and  at  one  or  two  others 
of  like  prominence,  will  here  be  in  place. 

The  early  history  of  Chicago  v/as  a  troubled  one. 
The  Pottawatomie  Indians  lefused  to  relinquish  their 
chiim  to  the  territory  so  long  owned  by  them,  includ- 
ing the  site  of  what  was  then  but  a  crude  village ;  a 
claim  asserted,  as  is  well  known,  in  the  massacre  at 
Fort  Dearborn  in  1812.  A  formal  cession,  however, 
of  the  claim  vv'as  made  by  them  at  a  large  gatheiing 
of  the  tribe,  seven  thousand  in  number,  held  in  Chi- 
cago in  1833.  This  relieved  Nortliern  Illinois  and 
adjacent  regions  of  further  apprehension  on  these 
grounds,  and  Chicago  very  soon  entered  upon  the 
career  of  growth  and  prosperity  of  v>liich  the  present 
is  the  outcome. 

It  was  in  the  same  year  as  this  notable  Indian  as- 
sembly with  its  important  consequences,  that  the  cor- 
respondence took  place  which  brought  to  Chicago  its 
first  Baptist  missionary  and  pastor.  Among  those 
who  had  recently  made  their  homes  there,  was  Dr. 
94 


AT   THE   CHIEF   CEXTEIIS  95 

John  T.  Temple,  son-in-law  of  Dr.  William  Stauoh- 
ton,  an  earnest  Christian  man  and  a  Baptist  In  a 
letter  from  him  to  Rev.  C.  G.  Sommers,  of  New 
1  ork,  occurs  the  following  passafre : 

We  have  no  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  proclaim 
he  glad  t.dn.gs  of  salvation.  I  write  to  beg  you  wilfsee  Z 
Going,  and  ask  that  a  young  man  of  first-rate  talent,  whose 
heart  is  xn  the  cause  of  Christ,  may  be  sent  out  immediatel 
before  1-  ground  shall  be  occupied  by  some  other  organiza: 
tion.  I  will  myself  become  responsible  for  two  hundred  dol- 
lars per  annum  for  such  a  missionary. 

liey.  Jeremiah  Porter,  a  Concrrecrationalist  minister 
had  lor  a  greater  or  less  time  served  as  ciiaplain  at 
l|ort  Dearborn,  and  as  preacher  to  a  congregation  in 
the  Village.  The  Methodists  also  had  a  p^reachin- 
station  in  the  place,  served  by  ^•' old  Father  AYalker  " 
Dr.  Temple's  language  in  the  letter,  however,  clearlv 
implies  tluit  there  was,  as  yet,  no  ''other  or^raniza- 
tion." 

At  the  time  when  Dr.  Temple's  letter  came  into  the 
hands  of  Dr.  Going,  then  Secretarv  of  the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  a  voung  man,  Allen 
B.  Freeman,  at  the  Hamilton  Literarv  and  Theo- 
logical Institute,  now  Colgate  University,  was  on  the 
point  of  finishing  his  studies.  He  was  the  son  of 
Kev.  Pvufus  B.  Freeman,  of  Central  New  York,  and 
was  at  this  time  twenty-seven  vears  of  ao-e,  havino- 
been  born  in  1806.  Dr.  Temple's  letter  w^s  sent  to 
him  by  Dr.  Going,  with  the  offer  of  an  appointment 
as  missionary  of  the  society  to  labor  at  Chicago.     The 


96       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

offer  was  accepted,  and  Mr.  Freeman  arrived  upon 
his  field  in  August,  1833.  Dr.  Going,  in  the  letter  of 
introduction  to  Dr.  Temple,  spoke  of  him  as  "a 
talented,  pious,  and  efficient  man."  i 

A  house  of  worship  was  almost  immediately  begun. 
The  few  brethren  with  their  limited  means  could  no! 
plan  largely  in  this  regard.  The  late  Cyrus  Bentley, 
Esq.,  of  Chicago,  in  his  history  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  speaks  of  the  house  as  "  an  humble  edifice, 
designed  both  as  a  place  of  W(»'ship  and  as  a  school- 
house,  and  cost  when  completed  the  sum  of  six  hun- 
dred dollars,  of  which  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
was  in  arrears,  and  remained  as  a  debt  upon  the 
property."  On  October  19  of  the  same  year  (1833)  a 
ciiurch  was  organized  with  fifteen  members;  the  only 
Baptist  church,  with  a  single  exception,  then  in  Illi- 
nois north  of  Peoria ;  the  exception  being  the  Aux 
Plaines  Baptist  Church,  which  had  been  organized  a 
few  months  earlier. 

The  devoted  service  of  the  young  missionary  pastor 
M'as  to  continue  during  only  the  brief  period  of  one 
year  and  a  half.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Freeman  ex- 
tended his  labors  as  much  as  possii)le  into  the  adjacent 
settlements,  a  service  attended   with  much  labor  and 

'  Dr.  "William  Dean,  the  veteran  missionary,  a  classmate  of  Mr. 
Freeman,  has  written  of  him:  "At  our  graduation,  in  1833,  we 
were  ordained  together  at  Hamilton,  at  the  close  of  the  commence- 
ment exercises.  Rev.  Jonathan  Going  preached  the  sermon. 
John  M.  Peck  also  took  part  in  the  ordination.  After  this  I 
attended  liis  wedding  and  saw  him  and  his  bride  start  to  plant 
churches  in  Chicago." 


AT   THE    CHIEF    CENTERS  97 

exposure,  the  country  being  so  new,  the  roads  so 
bud,  and  the  means  of  travel  so  imperfect.  Several 
churches  were  organized,  and  the  ordinances  adminis- 
tered. One  of  these  was  at  a  place  named  Long 
Grove,  now  Bristol,  some  fifty  miles  from  Chicago. 
There,  early  in  December,  1834,  Mr.  Freeman  bap- 
tized a  voung  man  named  David  Matlock,  afterward 
a  useful  minister.  As  he  was  returning  homeward, 
the  horse  upon  which  he  rode  gave  out,  and  mucli  of 
the  journey  had  to  be  made  on  foot  in  stormy  weather 
and  consequent  great  exposure.  A  fever  was  the  re- 
sult, of  which  he  died,  December  15,  1834.  Among 
his  last  words  were  these  :  "  Tell  ray  father  that  I  die 
at  my  post  and  in  my  Master's  service." 

The  early  death  of  Mr.  Freeman  was  greatly  la- 
mented. He  had  won  not  only  a  place  in  the 
warmest  affections  of  those  in  whose  sei-vice  he  la- 
bored, but  a  lasting  place  also  in  the  early  history  of 
the  denomination  in  Chicago  and  Illinois.  His  name 
is  to  be  recorded  with  those  of  many  other  men 
thus  early  called  to  higher  spheres  of  service,  whose 
memory  remains  in  the  churches  as  a  treasure  and  an 
inspiration.  It  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  in 
changes  occurring  upon  the  present  site  of  Chicago, 
all  knowledge  of  the  place  of  his  burial  has  been  lost, 
so  that  it  must  be  said  of  him  as  of  the  great  Israel it- 
ish  leader  and  prophet,  "  No  man  knoweth  the  place 
of  iiis   sepulchre   unto  this  day."^     In  the    present 

1  "The  Western  Christian,"  one  of  the  earliest  Baptist  papers 
in  the  West,  in  a  notice  made  of  these  events  while  the  memory 

G 


^8       HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

house  of  worship  of  the  church  founded  by  him  there 
is  seen  a  befitting  memorial.  The  north  vestibule  lias 
a  tablet  with  the  following  inscription  : 

In  Memory 

of 

Allen  B.  Freeman. 

Born  1806  ; 

Founded  this  church 

October  19,  1833; 

Died  December  15,  1834. 

"I  die  at  my  post  and  in  my  Master's  service." 

Details  of  Baptist  history  in  Chicago  must  in  the 
main  be  reserved  for  a  later  page.  Nine  years  passed 
before  a  sect)nd  church  came  into  existence;  the  new 
organization  being  due  in  part,  no  doubt,  when  it 
came,  to  the  spread  of  population  to  the  west  side  of 
the  river,  but  in  part  also  to  the  appearance  on  the 
scene  of  that  issue,  so  divisive  in  its  effect  and  which 
influenced  so  much  the  history  of  years  soon  follow- 
ing, of  which  we  have  such  frequent  occasion  to  make 
mention.  Members  of  the  church  pronounced  in  their 
anti-slavery  views  withdrew,  in  1842,  along  with  the 
pastor,  Rev.  C.  B.  Smith,  and  organized  a  second 
church  on   the  west  side  of  the  river,  giving  it   the 

of  them  was  still  fresh,  says  of  Mr.  Freeman:  "His  fellow- 
students  will  long  remember  the  last  prayer  meeting  they  en- 
joyed together  in  that  institute"  at  Hamilton.  "  His  death  was 
that  of  a  Christian;  it  was  glorious,  it  was  triumphant.  It  was 
almost  like  heaven  to  stand  at  his  bedside."  Mrs.  Freeman,  who 
was  in  all  things  likeminded  with  her  husband,  afterward  became 
the  wife  of  Rev.  Alvin  Bailey. 


AT    THE    CHIEF    CENTERS  99 

name  of  the  Tabernacle  Baptist  Church.  In  this 
church  Mr.  C.  N.  Holden  was,  if  not  from  the  very 
first,  certainly  during  nearly  all  its  history  until  18G4, 
when  important  changes  occurred,  a  leader,  as  also  in 
enterprises  of  reform  characterizing  the  interval  of 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  between  the  dates  just 
named.  In  educational  enterprises  of  the  denomina- 
tion centering  at  Chicago,  he  also  shared  actively  and 
influentially. 

Of  Avhat  was  occurring  at  two  other  important 
centers  in  Illinois  we  must  now  speak.  It  was  in 
1836  that  Springfield  became  the  capital  of  the  State. 
A  Baptist  church  was  then  already  in  existence,  hav- 
ing been  organized  with  eight  members.  "  There 
were  "at  that  date,  "only  four  Baptist  churches  in 
the  State  of  Illinois  which  were  what  might  be  termed 
missionary  Baptist  churches."^  The  first  pastor  of 
the  church  was  Rev.  Aaron  Vandeveer,  who  remained 
in  service  five  years.  An  Association  was  already  in 
existence,  called  the  Sangamon  Association,  composed 
of  "five  or  six  small  anti-mission  Baptist  churches  in 
the  vicinity  of  Springfield."  With  this  Association 
the  Springfield  Church  became  connected  in  the  first 
years  of  its  history. 

The  church,  however,  soon  found  itself  out  of  sym- 
pathy with  others  in  the  Association  upon  the  then 
all-engrossing  question  of  missions  and  other  forms 
of  special  organization  in  the  interests  of  religion  and 

^  "History  of  the  Springfield  Baptist  Association,"  by  Rev. 
Edwin  S.  Walker,  of8pringfield,  111. 


100    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

reform.  In  1835  or  1836  two  brotiiers,  Charles  B. 
Francis  and  Josiah  Francis,  came  to  Springfield  from 
Pittsfield,  Mass.,  where  they  had  been  active  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  church.  "  Monthly  concerts  of 
prayer  for  missions  had  been  for  some  time  observed 
by  our  churches  in  the  Atlantic  States.  To  intro- 
duce their  observance  here  at  the  West,  among  anti- 
mission  churches,  was  no  easy  service.  Mr.  C.  B. 
Francis,  however,  with  an  earnest  zeal  in  the  service 
of  his  Master,  commenced  by  inviting  members  of 
the  church  to  his  house  to  read  and  talk  over  the 
news  from  Dr.  Judson  and  other  missionaries  in  the 
foreign  field."  ^  The  result  was  that  the  church  soon 
found  itself  out  of  sympathy  with  others  in  the  San- 
gamon Association.  The  organization  of  the  Spring- 
field Baptist  A.-sociation  soon  followed,  in  the  year 
1837,  composed  of  such  churciies  in  that  section  of 
the  State  as  were  in  sympathy  with  missions  and 
other  like  objects. 

In  1836  Rev.  Aaron  Vandeveer  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  Jonathan  Merriam,  a  native  of  Passumpsic 
Valley,  Vermont.  "A  stalwart  man  in  both  body 
and  mind,"  and  who  had  studied  for  the  ministry, 
like  so  many  others  whom  we  name  in  this  history, 
under  Dr.  Staughton,  at  Columbian  College,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.  We  shall  here,  in  the  present  case,  antic- 
ipate subsequent  events  so  far  as  to  mention,  with  the 
brevity  which  limitations  of  space  compels,  changes 
in  the  pastorate  during  years  following.  These  were 
»  Rev.  E.  S.  Walker. 


AT    THE    CHIEF    CENTERS  101 

principally  as  follows:  O.  0.  Comstock,  D.  d.,  one 
year  in  1839;  11.  W.  Dodge  three  years,  1840-43; 
Gilbert  S.  Bailey,  1846-50;  Thomas  C.  Truesdale, 
1850-52;  William  Syin,  1853-55;  N.  W.  Miner, 
1855-69,  fourteen  years,  a  ministry  cluiracterized  in 
an  unusual  degree  by  spirituality  and  an  earnest  evan- 
gelism ;  N.  Pierce,  1870-73;  M.  H.  Worrall,  1874- 
78;  J.  L.  M.  Young,  1879;  under  his  pastorate  tlie 
North  Church,  an  unsuccessful  second  organization, 
became  united  with  the  older  one,  thus  forming  the 
present  Central  Baptist  Church.  Under  the  minis- 
try of  Rev.  F.  D.  Rickerson,  who  followed,  the  pres- 
ent spacious  and  handsome  house  of  -worship  Mas 
built,  The  pastorate,  still  later,  of  Rev.  O.  O. 
Fletcher,  d.  d.,  gathered  a  strong  congregation,  which 
fully  held  its  own  under  that  of  Rev.  Euclid  B. 
Rogers,  his  successor. 

Owing  partly,  perhaps,  to  its  location  in  the  capital 
of  the  State,  this  church  has  been  favored  with  influ- 
ential laymen  to  whom  the  church  has  itself  been 
much  indebted.  We  name,  as  examples,  besides 
those  mentioned  above,  John  Hay,  Gen.  Mason  Bray- 
man,  Hon.  John  M.  Palmer,  United  States  Senator,  and 
Hon.  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  of  the  Illinois  Supreme 
Court.  Deacon  W.  W.  Watson  was,  during  many 
years,  with  Josiah  Francis,  a  pillar  in  the  church. 

Peoria,  in  Illinois,  claims  especial  mention  here,  on 
account  of  its  position  as  perhaps  the  second  city  in 
the  State  in  point  of  population,  as  well  as  because  it 
was  the  first  point  of  like  importance  held  by  Bap- 


102    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

tists  ill  Central  Illinois;  yet  not  less  because  of  the 
place  held  in  the  Baptist  niinistry  of  the  State  dur- 
ing many  years  by  one  of  the  later  pastors,  Rev.  H. 
G.  Weston.  The  Baptist  church  of  Peoria  appears  to 
date  from  the  year  1836,  its  organization  with  ten 
members  occurring  in  that  year,  Rev.  Alexander 
Ridler  being  the  pastor.  After  this  came  Henry 
Headly,  who  had  been  ordained  soon  after  the  organ- 
ization of  the  church.  These  two  pastorates  lasted 
each  only  one  year.  In  1839  came  E.  W.  Gardner,  re- 
maining until  1842.  In  the  following  year  he  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  I.  D.  Newell.  In  1846,  Mr.  Newell 
being  still  tiie  pastor,  the  first  house  of  worship  was 
built,  after  a  severe  struggle  and  with  many  sacrifices 
on  the  part  of  the  meml)ers.  Following  the  dedica- 
tion a  fruitful  revival  was  enjoyed,  Rev.  Morgan  Ed- 
wards, "the  Sailor  Preacher,"  assisting  the  pastor. 
Mr.  Newell  resigning  to  become  agent  of  ShurtlefF 
College,  he  was  succeeded,  in  a  happy  iiour  for  the 
church  and  for  the  denomination  in  the  State,  by  Rev. 
Henry  G.  Weston,  whose  pastorate,  to  last  during 
thirteen  prosperous  years,  began  Nov.  1,  1846. 

Mr.  Weston,  born  at  Lynn,  Mass.,  was  the  son  of 
a  Baptist  minister,  Rev.  John  E.  Weston,  who  at  the 
time  of  his  son's  birth  w;is  connected  with  "The 
Christian  Watchman,"  the  Baptist  paper  at  Boston. 
Baptized  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  a  graduate  at  Brown 
in  1840,  and  at  Newton  in  1843,  ordained  in  that 
year  at  Frankfort,  Ky.,  jNIr.  Weston  came  at  once  to 
Illinois,  serving  as  a  missionary  at  his  own  charges, 


AT    THE    CHIEF    CENTERS  103 

in  Tazewell,  Woodford,  and  McLean  counties.  In 
1859,  after  thirteen  years  of  most  fruitful  service  at 
Peoria,  he  accepted  the  call  of  the  Oliver  Street 
Church  in  New  York  City  and  the  presidency,  which 
he  still  holds,  of  the  Crozer  Theological  Seminary  in 
1868,  entering  upon  office  at  the  foundinoj  of  iliat  in- 
stitution as  its  first  president.  In  all  departments  of 
denominational  service  in  the  State  his  personal  in- 
fluence and  judicious  counsels  were  felt  to  be  inval- 
uable, while  as  preacher  and  pastor  he  gained  and 
held  the  foremost  place,  not  only  in  the  city  of  his 
residence,  but  in  the  entire  State  of  Illinois. 

Other  pastors  of  the  First  Church  at  Peoria  have 
been,  in  late  years,  Rev.  C.  E.  Hewitt,  D.  d.,  and  Rev. 
D.  D.  Odell.  Under  Mr.  Odell's  pastorate  the  new 
house  of  worship,  representing  in  its  size  and  finish 
the  progress  which  the  church  had  made  in  its  more  than 
half-century  of  history,  was  l)uilt.  His  removal  to 
Omaha,  Neb.,  in  1893,  left  tliis  pastorate  vacant. 

In  a  brief  sketcli  of  Baptist  churches  in  Cincin- 
nati, we  find  this  graphic  passage: 

There  are  few  landscapes  in  Ohio  more  charming  than  that 
which  greets  the  eye  from  the  summit  of  Mount  Tusculum, 
rising  so  boldly  from  the  river  near  the  most  easterly  boun- 
dary of  the  city.  The  view  embraces  the  broad  sweep  of  the 
Ohio,  the  fruitful  fields  at  the  south  of  the  Little  Miami,  the 
graceful  outline  of  tlie  Kentucky  hills,  and  all  the  busy  life 
of  what  was  once  Columbia,  but  is  now  an  important  section 
of  a  great  city.' 

1  Mr.  George  E.  Stevens  in  "  Centennial  Supplement  of  the 
Journal  and  Messenger,''  June  7,  1888. 


104    IIISTOKY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTEKN  STATES 

We  have  before  described  the  landing  at  the  point 
so  mentioned,  of  the  first  Ohio  pioneers,  and  the 
foundinu-  of  '•  tlie  first  Baptist  chureli  in  Oliio  or  else- 
where in  the  wide  Nortliwest."  *'  One  spot  espe- 
cially," says  Mr.  Sievens,  '•  will  fix  the  gaze  of  every 
Baprist.  It  is  an  old  bnrying-ground  a  short  dis- 
tance above  Columbia  Station,  on  the  Little  Miami 
railroad.  This  place  will  be  ever  notable  in  Baptist 
annals  as  the  site  of  the  first  meeting-house  occupied 
by  the  Columbia  Baptist  Church.  It  was  built  in 
1792.  The  lapse  of  a  century  invests  the  ancient 
graves,  and  the  foiuidation  stones  that  here  and  there 
mark  the  site,  with  intense  historic  intei'cst."  The 
church  so  founded,  it  appears,  now  bears  the  name  of 
Duck  Creek  Church. 

The  original  site  of  Cincinnati  appears  to  have 
been  some  five  miles  distant  from  the  locality  here 
described,  and  was  occupied  by  a  similar  colony  of 
pioneers  about  one  month  later  than  the  one  at  Col- 
umbia. A  considerable  time  elapsed,  however,  be- 
fore Baptist  churches  began  to  be  organized  within 
what  was  to  become  a  city  that  should  embrace  Col- 
imibia  itself,  and  so  much  else  of  the  adjacent  terri- 
tory. Baptist  meetings  were  held,  with  ministers 
froni  Baptist  churches  adjacent,  but  for  some  reason 
it  was  not  until  1813  that  a  church  existed  in  what 
was  then  Cincinnati.  In  December  of  that  year  the 
church  which  was  in  later  years  known  as  "the 
Original  and  Regidar  First  Baptist  Church,"  was  or- 
ganizetl.     In  July,   1815,   it  took   possession  of  the 


AT    THE    CHIEF    CENTERS  105 

house  of  worship  it  had  built,  the  sermon  on  the  occa- 
sion being  preached  by  Rev.  Alexander  Denniston. 

Many  influences  divisive  in  character  began  to  be 
felt  soon  after.  About  this  time  Alexander  Camp- 
bell visited  Cincinnati,  and  gained  several  persons  to 
the  adoption  of  his  views.  There  was  also  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  fundamental  tenets  of  Calvinism,  some 
inclining  to  extreme  predestinarian  views,  others  hold- 
ing the  more  moderate  ground.  The  First  Church  or- 
ganized, as  just  mentioned,  was  rent  in  twain,  the  one 
part  being  recognized  by  the  jNIiami  Association  as 
the  true  First  Church,  though  the  name  was  claimed  by 
the  other.  Subsequently  in  1821,  from  the  former  of 
these  two  sections  of  the  First  Church,  the  Enon 
Baptist  Church  was  organized,  and  erected  a  iiouse  of 
worship  on  Walnut  street,  occupying  this  until  1841. 

In  1828  a  remarkable  revival  was  enjoyed  in  the 
Enon  Church,  under  the  preaching  of  Rev.  Jeremiah 
Vardeman,  of  Kentucky.  The  ingathering  of  new 
members  was  very  great,  so  that  a  colony  numbering 
one  hundred  and  eighteen  went  out  to  form  a  new 
church,  which,  taking  its  name  from  the  street  on 
which  its  house  of  worship  was  built,  was  called  the 
Sycamore  Street  Baptist  Clmrch.  Causes  of  division 
among  Baptists  of  the  city  still  continued.  Alex- 
ander Campbell  was  preaching  often  at  the  Sycamore 
Street,  and  occasionally  at  the  Enon  Church.  The 
party  which  had  been  left  behind  in  what  still  called 
itself  the  First  Baptist  Church,  held  its  ground,  al- 
though much  reduced  in  number.     Mr.  Campbell  had 


106    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  "WESTERN  STATES 

recently  held  a  famous  debate  with  the  infidel,  Robert 
Dale  Owen,  and  had  much  strengthened  himself  in 
public  estimation  as  the  result.  Under  his  influence 
the  Svcamore  Street  Church  was  steadily  swinging 
from  its  Baptist  moorings,  and  preparing  for  what 
came  a  little  later,  the  a'loption  by  a  majority  of  its 
members  of  Mr.  Campbell's  views,  and  change  of  name 
to  the  First  Christian  Baptist  Church  of  Cincinnati. 

It  is  always  spoken  of  as  a  most  providential  cir- 
cumstance that  at  this  time  there  came  to  the  city  a 
man  suited  in  many  ways  to  such  a  juncture,  Rev. 
Samuel  W.  Lynd.  He  was  simply  on  a  visit  to  the 
city,  but  soon  attracted  attention.  "  His  broad  and 
cultivated  understanding,  the  moderation  of  his  doc- 
trinal views,  as  contrasted  with  the  hyper-Calvinism 
to  which  many  Baptist  preachers  in  this  region  at 
that  time  inclined,  together  with  his  clear  and  logical 
presentation  of  gospel  truth,  at  once  made  strong 
friends  for  him  with  all  who  listened  to  his  voice. 
Around  him,  it  was  apparent,  the  elements  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made  could  gather.'" 

The  result  was  the  organization  of  the  church  now 
known  as  the  Ninth  Street  Ba])tist  Church  of  Cincin- 
nati. Its  original  membership  numbered  nineteen, 
fourteen  bringing  letteis  of  dismission  from  the  Enon 
Baptist  Church,  and  f  )ur  from  the  Sycatnore  Street. 
The  church  was  recognized  by  council,  Nov.  9,  1830. 

1  Historical  discourse  by  Rev.  S.  W.  Duncan,  d.  d.,  on  occa- 
sion of  the  semi-centennial  of  the  Ninth  Street  Baptist  Church, 
Cincinnati. 


AT    THE    CHIEF    CENTERS  107 

Some  four  months  later,  tha  members  left  of  the  orig- 
inal First  Ciiurch  came,  almost  in  a  body,  to  unite  with 
the  new  church,  that  which  they  had  formerly  con- 
stituted now  passing  out  of  existence.  The  name. 
First  Baptist  Church,  appears  to  have  been  then 
taken  by  the  Enon  Baptist  Church,  and  by  that  namg 
it  is  now  known.  A  Bethel  Baptist  Cliurch  had  in 
the  meantime  been  organized  ;  so  that  in  the  passing 
of  the  Sycamore  Street  Baptist  Cliurch  into  the  hands 
of  the  Campbellites,  and  the  merging  of  the  original 
First  Church  witii  what  is  now  the  Ninth  Street, — 
but  at  first  named  from  its  original  location  the  Sixth 
Street, — there  were  at  this  period  three  churches  in 
Cincinnati,  including  what  had  been  'known  as  the 
Enon,  but  now  the  First  Church.  The  Bethel  Bap- 
tist Church  organized  in  1829,  under  the  ministry  of 
Rev.  John  Boyd,  disbanded  soon  after  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  new  church  formed  under  Dr.  Lynd's 
leadership,  most  of  its  members  finding  a  home 
there. 

Thus,  at  the  beginning  of  Dr.  Lvnd's  pastorate, 
there  had  come  to  be  only  two  Baptist  churches  in 
Cincinnati,  the  First  and  the  Sixth,  subsequently  the 
Ninth  Street  Church.  But  although  the  number  of 
churches  had  suffered  diminution,  the  effective 
strength  of  the  denomination  was  made  much  greater. 
Causes  of  division  were  out  of  the  way,  and  where 
there  had  been  collision  and  debate,  there  was  now 
union  and  a  growing  spirit  of  earnest  consecration  to 
the  common  service. 


108    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

It  is  the  purpose  at  this  point,  to  record  only  be- 
ginnings. We  shall  add  here,  accordingly,  only  that 
Dr.  Lynd's  pastorate,  which  began  on  the  first  Sun- 
day of  the  year  1831,  continued  until  September, 
1845,  when  he  resigned  to  become  pastor  of  the  Sec- 
ond Baptist  Church  in  St  Louis.  In  1836,  the  house 
on  Sixth  Street  having  become  too  small,  the  site  at  pres- 
ent occupied  on  Ninth  street  was  purchased  and  a  new 
house  of  worship  erected^  cosring  thirty-six  thousand 
dollars.  The  present  more  spacious  one  was  erected 
in  1867-68,  at  a  cost  of  ninety  thousand  dollars. 

The  year  1826  supplies  a  date  for  the  beginning  of 
Baptist  history  in  Detroit. 

la  the  spring  of  1826,  God  had  stirred  up  a  few  Baptists, 
who  had  settled  in  this  then  rude  city,  to  earnest  longings  aud 
prayers  for  the  establishment  of  church  privileges  and  minis- 
trations among  them,  while  at  the  same  time  he  was  turning 
toward  them  aud  their  field  the  heart  of  Brother  Henry  Davis, 
then  about  leaving  his  preparatory  studies  and  entering  the 
ministrj'.  Brother  Davis  was  accordingly  led  to  visit  Detroit 
in  August  of  that  year,  and  was  soon  invited  by  the  brethren 
here  to  make  this  his  field  of  labor.  A  room  was  secured  and 
fitted  up  in  the  academy,  standing  where  is  now  the  west  front 
of  the  City  Hall,  and  early  in  the  summer  of  1 827  this  pioneer 
of  our  Baptist  cause  in  our  city  arrived  on  the  ground  and  set 
himself  down  to  his  ai'duoiis  work.  He  was  welcomed,  as  he 
had  been  called,  by  but  two  brethren  and  three  sisters. 

The  first  meeting  of  these  few  sheep  in  the  moral  wilder- 
ness with  their  undershepherd,  who  had  come  to  fold  and 
feed  them,  was  aiFectingly  interesting.  All  related  their 
Christian  experience,  and  covenanted  to  strive  together  for 
the  establishment  of  their  faith  in  this  city.  Stated  meetings 
were  thereafter  kept  up  in  the  academy  for  preaching,  prayer, 


AT    THE    CHIEF    CEXTEUS  109 

and  business.  On  the  nineteenth  of  August,  the  first  candi- 
date for  baptism,  Mrs.  Nancy  Cabell,  was  buried  with  Christ 
in  that  ordinance.  The  scene  was  new  to  the  communitj^, 
and  probably  the  first  of  the  kind  ever  mirrored  in  the  calm 
waters  of  our  majestic  river.  A  cloudless  sky  looked  down 
on  a  vast  and  solemidy  attentive  concourse  of  people,  who 
followed  this  witnessing  believer  to  the  water's  side,  and  be- 
held her  emblematic  burial  and  resurrection,  and  seemed, 
like  the  crowds  who  followed  her  of  Samaria  to  the  well,  a 
harvest  white  for  the  sickle.  Two  others  W'ere  baptized  the 
same  month.  ^ 

The  council  for  recognition  of  the  church,  meeting 
on  October  20,  1827,  was  composed  entirely  of  lay 
delegates,  Rev.  Elkanah  Comstock  of  Pontiac,  the 
only  Baptist  minister  then  in  the  State,  being  provi- 
dentially detained.  The  churches  so  represented  were 
only  tliree,  Poiuiac,  Troy,  and  Farmington.  For 
ministers  to  conduct  the  proceedings  it  was  necessary 
to  send  to  other  States,  and  three  such  were  secured  : 
Rev.  Elisha  Tucker  of  Fredonia,  N.  Y.,  ReV:  Jairus 
Handy  of  Buffalo,  and  Rev.  Asahel  Morse  of  Ohio. 
The  sermon  was  by  Mr.  Tucker,  the  eharire  and  hand 
of  fellowship  by  INIessrs.  Mor.se  and  Handy.  Ten 
persons  constituted  the  membership  of  the  church,  in- 
cluding the  pastor.  Of  the  four  male  members,  one, 
Mr.  Francis  P.  Browning,  has  frequent  mention  in 
subsequent  annals  of  the  denomination,  alike  in  the 
city  and  in  the  State. 

1  "Historical  and  Biographical  Sketches  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  Detroit.  Presented  at  the  close  of  its  first  half- 
century,"  September,  1877,  by  S.  Haskell,  d.  d. 


110    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

The  years  which  followed  were  years  of  painful 
vicissitude.  The  pastor's  health  failing,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  after  a  year's  service.  Causes  of  dis- 
cipline occurred  even  in  this  small  body,  and  though 
new  members  came  in,  others  had  to  be  excluded,  so 
that  during  three  years  which  elapsed  before  another 
pastor  could  be  called,  the  membership  never  ex- 
ceeded twelve,  while  sometimes  falling  as  low  as 
eight.  One  important  gain,  however,  had  been  made. 
Partly  through  the  advice  and  co-operation  of  Gov- 
ernor Lewis  Cass,  valuable  property  had  been  secui'ed 
in  the  form  of  lots,  upon  which  a  house  of  worship 
was  subsequently  erected.  It  was  a  further  sore  trial 
to  the  church  that  during  four  years,  from  1827  to 
1831,  its  application  for  admission  to  the  Association 
was  refused.  "  The  cause  of  this  unmotherly  treat- 
ment," writes  Dr.  Haskell,  "  from  the  churches  whose 
delegates  had  approved  the  organization  of  this  younger 
sister  church,  was  alleged  to  be,  that  a  faction  in  the 
Association  complained  ihat  the  body  was  too  small 
to  be  a  church,  and  that  it  chose  to  receive  as  mem- 
bers persons  who  had  been  baptized  by  Pedobaptist 
ministers.  Though  thus  subjected  to  pnjudice  from 
without  and  discouragement  from  within,  the  feeble 
body  stood  with  true  Baptist  adhesion  to  the  princi- 
ples of  religious  liberty,  meekly  asserting  her  inde- 
pendence as  a  church  and  waiting  for  the  door  of  the 
Association  to  open  to  her  with  that  assertion  upon 
her  lips;  as  in  1831  was  the  case,  when  she  was 
freely  received." 


AT  THE  CHIEF  ce>;ters  111 

The  term  of  the  next  pastorate,  that  of  E-ev.  Stephen 
Goodman,  from  Engkind,  lasted  only  one  year,  al- 
though in  that  time  the  membership  had  increased  to 
forty-five.  The  year  following,  1832,  Avas  cholera 
year,  and  the  church  suSered  under  the  natural  de- 
pression. It  had,  however,  a  resolute  leader  in  the 
])erson  of  Mr.  Browning,  who,  although  the  prevail- 
ing disease  had  f  )und  a  victim  in  his  own  oldest  son, 
cheered  his  brethren  in  the  struggle,  encouraging 
them  especially  in  steps  toward  securing  a  place  of 
worship  of  their  own.  In  September,  1833,  the  cor- 
ner-stone was  laid,  and  in  October  the  walls  were  up. 
In  1834  Rev.  Robert  Turnbull  became  pastor,  con- 
tinuing in  service  two  years  and  a  half.  Soon  after 
his  settlement  in  November  of  the  year  named,  the 
house  of  worship  was  dedicated,  and  the  church  had  a 
home.  Succeeding  pastors  were  Rev.  O.  C  Comstock, 
father  of  the  missionary,  1838-1839;  Rev.  Howell 
Smith,  1839-41;  Rev.  Andrew  Tenbrook  during  the 
three  years  next  following,  being  ordained  on  occa- 
sion of  his  settlement,  and  permitted  to  see,  in  1843, 
twenty  baptisms  as  fruits  of  his  labor.  He  resigned 
his  pastorate  to  become  Professor  of  Intellectual  and 
Moral  Science  in  the  State  University  at  Ann  Arbor. 
Rev.  James  Inglis  came  next,  also  ordained  with 
this  church,  and  almost  immediately  favored  with  a 
revival  in  which  the  church  was  increased  by  seventv 
new  members,  fifty-three  by  baptism.  The  period  of 
ordeal  had  now  passed,  and  times  of  prosperity  were 
henceforth  to  be  enjoyed. 


112    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

As  an  example  of  the  style  of  character  found  so 
often  in  the  Baptist  laymen  of  the  West,  not  alone  in 
Michigan,  but  in  other  Slates  as  well,  we  copy  some 
portion  of  what  Dr.  Haskell  says  of  Mr.  Browning: 

I  tliank  God  that  the  history  of  this  church  gives  me  the 
privilege  of  holding  up  hefore  business  men,  and  especially 
before  young  men,  a  character  whose  iironiinent  features  are 
so  rare  and  so  wortliy  of  contemi)lation  as  those  which  stood 
out  in  the  person  of  Francis  1*.  Browning  ;  a  man  of  such  men- 
tal vigor  and  industry  that,  while  overwhelmed  with  the  cares 
of  a  most  extended  and  embarrassing  mercantile  business,  he 
could  command  time  and  thought  sufficient  to  keep  his  mind 
filled  with  the  fresh  laden  stores  of  his  good  library,  making 
him  a  treasury  of  instruction  to  the  church,  and  a  companion 
to  learned  members  of  the  Eastern  ministry,  to  whom  his 
duties  made  him  known  ;  a  man  of  such  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  religion,  that  his  life  and  property  were  labeled 
with  the  mark  of  consecration  to  its  advancement ;  and  of 
such  adherence  to  what  he  believed  to  be  the  church  polity  of 
the  New  Testament,  that  his  energies  and  his  fortune  were 
sacred  to  the  work  of  fanning  and  fueling  the  little  fire  which 
he  and  a  few  others  kindled  on  this  obscure  Baptist  altar ; 
while  at  the  same  time  his  spirit  and  heart  were  liberal 
enough  to  render  him  an  active  and  esteemed  co-worker  with 
Christians  of  every  name  in  their  efforts  to  plant  the  then 
untamed  soil  with  seeds  of  religion,  general  morality,  and 
intelligence. 

Of  early  times  in  Milwaukee  we  have  briefly  made 
mention  in  the  Introduction  with  which  our  history 
opens.  Between  the  date  at  which  the  young  town  re- 
ceived a  village  organization,  1825,  and  that  at  which, 
in  1836,  Baptist  history  there  begins,  eleven  years 
elapsed. _ Rev.  Richard  Griffin  then  appeared  upon  the 


AT    THE    CHIEF    CENTERS  113 

scene,  under  appointment  by  the  Home  Mission  So- 
ciety. A  native  of  Clinton,  Conn.,  and  having  already 
had  service  as  a  pastor  in  Granville,  Mas-.,  he  came 
in  the  year  named  to  what  was  then  a  wilderness  and 
not  to  become  a  State  until  twelve  years  later,  in 
18  i8.  Upon  this  wild  scene  he  was  to  spend  nearly 
all  the  remainder  of  his  life,  planting  and  fostering 
the  infant  churches.  By  him  the  first  Baptist  churcli  at 
Milwaukee,  first  also  in  the  Territory,  as  such  was  or- 
ganized Nov.  19,  1836.  "Some  of  the  earliest  set- 
tlers and  largest  landholders  in  that  vicinity  were 
Baptists,  and  the  first  white  child  born  in  Milwaukee 
was  the  daughter  of  Baptist  parents.  Tliey  called 
her  name  '  Milwaukee.'  She  is  vet  living  (1894)  in 
California."  ' 

The  earlv  historv  of  the  church  formed  as  men- 
tioned  above  is  obscure.  In  1841  its  name  appears  to 
have  been  changed  to  North  Greenfield,  and  under  Rev. 
Peter  Conrad  what  is  now  the  First  Baptist  Church 
of  Milwaukee  was  reorganized  in  1842.  Mr.  Conrad 
was  a  native  of  Wyoming  County,  New  York. 
Early  converted,  he  became  a  student  at  Hamilton  at 
sixteen  years  of  age,  "graduating  with  honor  in  both 
departments,  literary  and  theological."  In  the  year 
named  above  he  came  to  Milwaukee,  commissioned  by 
the  society  in  New  York  as  a  home  missionary.  Fol- 
lowing his  pastorate  at  Milwaukee,  we  find  him  spoken 
of  as  engaged  in  like  service  at  Geneva,  Prairie  du 
Sac,  Wilton,  Baraboo,  Kilbourne,  Berlin,  and  East 

^  Rev.  David  Spencer,  d.  r. 
H 


114    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Troy.  His  great  work  was  accomplislied  as  itinerant 
missionary  under  the  direction  of  the  State  Conven- 
tion or  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society. 
"  There  is  hardly  a  town  of  any  note  in  the  State  where 
lie  did  not  sow  the  gospel  seed.  He  was  for  many 
years  the  missionary  apostle  of  Wisconsin,  since  he 
preached  the  gospel  through  all  that  region.  He 
served  the  American  Bible  Union  as  its  financial  sec- 
retary in  the  State,  for  a  short  time.  It  was  while  on 
his  missionary  tours,  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  des- 
titute, gathering  the  scattered  sheep  into  churches, 
tljat  he  was  most  happy."  ' 

The  pastorate  of  Mr.  Conrad  at  Milwaukee  must 
have  been  of  short  duration,  as  in  1844  we  find  Rev. 
Lewis  Raymond  pastor  there.  Mr.  Raymond  like 
Mr.  Conrad  was  a  typical  Western  man.  The  species 
of  hardy  enterprise  required  of  the  pioneer  suited  his 
enercretic  and  vigorous  manhood.  He  liad  been  born 
at  Walton,  Delaware  County,  N.  Y.,  in  LS07,  and 
had  been  baptized  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  by  Rev. 
S.  P.  Griswold,  "  one  of  the  veteran  ministers  of 
New  York."  In  his  first  preaching,  having  been 
licensed  by  the  church  at  Sydney,  he  united  minis- 
terial service  with  his  business  as  a  builder.  He  soon 
settled  as  pastor  at  Laurens,  and  then  for  eight  years 
held  the  pastorate  at  Cooperstown.  Being  found  en- 
dowed in  an  unusual  degree  for  revival  preaching, 
he  was  called  into  that  service,  and  for  three  years, 
from  1841  onward,  was  thus  engaged  in  New  York 
»  "Baptist  Cyclopaedia,"  p.  270. 


AT    THE    CHIEF    CENTERS  115 

and  Northern  Pennsylvania.  In  184-4  he  came  to 
jNIilwankee,  and  continued  in  service  there  until 
1848,  the  church  gaining  under  his  ministry  sufficient 
strength  for  the  erection  of  its  first  house  of  worship. 
Mr.  Raymond's  subsequent  labors  were  as  pastor  of 
the  Tabernacle  Baptist  Church,  Chicago,  and  a  like 
service  at  Sandusky,  Ohio,  the  church  tiiere  being  or- 
ganized under  his  ministry.  After  one  year,  surren- 
dering this  pastorate  to  Rev.  J.  D.  Fulton,  two  years 
of  service  following  for  the  Ohio  State  Convention, 
he  came  to  Aurora,  111.,  where  he  organized  a  new 
church,  performing  a  like  service  at  Peoria  in  1859. 
When  the  war  broke  out,  he  entered  the  army  as  a 
chaplain,  continuing  as  such  till  the  struggle  was  over. 
From  liiat  time  till  his  death  at  a  ripe  old  age,  he  was 
engaged  in  revival  w^ork,  East  and  West,  retaining 
his  energy  and  enthusiasm  to  the  last. 

Baptist  growth  in  Milwaukee  may  be  said  to  date 
from  the  erection  of  the  fiist  house  of  worship  under 
the  ministry  of  Mr.  Raymond.  It  was,  however, 
owing  to  various  causes,  slow  and  marked  by  many 
vicissitudes.  The  pastorate  of  Rev.  T.  S.  Griffiths, 
which  soon  followed  that  of  Mr.  Raymond,  was 
nevertheless  a  fruitful  one,  while  in  later  years  the 
accession  to  the  membership  of  men  engaged  in  large 
business  enterprise,  with  ampler  means  than  were  pos- 
sessed by  those  who  in  earlier  years  had  helped  to 
fester  the  infant  cause,  made  it  possible  to  attempt 
larger  things,  and  to  branch  out  in  forming  new 
churches. 


116    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

The  First  Baptist  Church  in  Indianapolis  dates  its 
history  from  1822,  in  which  year  it  was  organized, 
with  seventeen  members.  Of  these  early  times, 
President  Stott  writes : 

The  church  was  constituted  in  August,  1822  ;  Benjamin 
Barnes  was  the  first  pastor,  preaching  once  a  month,  the  place 
of  meeting  a  log  schoolhouse  on  what  is  now  Maryland  Street, 
hetvveen  Tennessee  and  Mississippi.  In  June,  1825,  Rev. 
Cornelius  Duvall,  of  Kentucky,  was  called  to  the  pastorate, 
being  followed  soon  after  by  Rev.  Abraham  Smock.  Rev. 
Byron  Lawrence,  afterward  professor  in  Franklin  College, 
Rev.  Ezra  Fisher,  and  others,  preached  for  the  church. 
Among  these  others  were  Rev.  T.  C.  Townsend  and  Rev.  J. 
L.  Richmond.  In  18-43  Rev.  G.  C.  Chandler,  first  president 
of  Franklin  College,  became  pastor,  and  served  till  1847.  He 
was  succeeded  by  Rev.  T.  R.  Cressey,  a  very  active,  enter- 
prising minister,  and  especially  active  as  secretary  of  the 
Indiana  General  Association,  now  the  State  Convention.  In 
1852  the  church  called  Rev.  Sidney  Dyer,  ph.  d.,  afterward 
so  long  connected  with  the  Publication  Society.  Following 
him  was  Rev.  J.  B.  Simmons,  D.  D.,  so  well  known  in  the 
denomination  ; 

especially,  we  may  add,  by  his  service  as  secretary  of 
the  Home  Mission  Society,  with  the  establishment  of 
freedraen's  schools  in  the  South  as  his  particular  care. 
We  note,  in  this  place,  only  these  early  records  of 
Baptist  history  at  Indianapolis. 

On  February,  16, 1883,  occurred  the  semi-centennial 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Rev. 
Philip  S.  Moxom  being  then  pastor.  A  history  of 
the  church  was  on  that  occasion  read  by  Dea.  B. 
Rouse.    The  first  Bapti-st  preacher  to  visit  the  place — 


AT    THE    CHIEF    CENTERS  117 

his  name  not  being  preserved,  so  far  as  we  can  find — 
came  in  1800,  at  which  time  that  which  later  bore  the 
name  of  "  Forest  City,"  must  have  been  a  forest  in- 
deed. The  next  mention  looking  toward  a  beginning 
of  Baptist  history,  was  the  arrival  in  the  place  of 
Moses  White,  in  1816,  and  in  1830,  Benjamin  Rouse. 
In  1832  a  Baptist  minister  was  on  the  ground,  Rev. 
Richard  Taggart,  from  Rhode  Island.  Under  his 
preaching  some  were  converted,  among  them  a  young 
man,  recently  from  England,  Thomas  Goodman. 
Four  of  these  converts  received  the  ordinance  of  bap- 
tism on  January  14,  1833,  "stepping  from  the  ice 
into  the  water."  These,  with  the  persons  first  named, 
became  the  nucleus  of  the  Baptist  church  formed  in 
February  16,  1833. 

Of  pastors  who  came  later.  Rev.  S.  W.  Adams,  d.  d., 
is  remembered  witli  peculiar  honor  and  affection. 
Born  in  Vernon,  Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1815,  he  be- 
came a  Christian  at  seventeen,  and  soon  after  fixed 
upon  the  ministry  as  his  chosen  sphere.  Receiving 
his  education,  literary  and  theological,  at  Hamilton, 
and  graduating  from  the  seminary  about  1843,  he 
was  in  the  same  year  ordained.  After  serving  as 
supply  of  churches  at  Durhamville  and  Johnstown, 
N.  Y.,  he  accepted,  in  1846,  the  pastorate  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Cleveland,  continuing  in  the  service 
until  1864,  a  period  of  eighteen  years.  In  the  year 
last  named,  his  active  and  useful  career  closed,  his 
death  being  mainly  caused  by  exposure  while  in  the 
service  of  the  Christian  Commission  at  the  South  in 


118    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

time  of  the  late  war.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of 
Dr.  Nathaniel  Kendrick  of  Hamilton,  and  upon  the 
death  of  the  latter  his  memoir  was  written  by 
Dr.  Adams.  Few  men  in  the  Western  ministry  have 
been  so  highly  appreciated  for  the  ability  of  their 
ministry,  or  so  admired  in  their  character.  His  death 
at  the  early  age  of  forty-nine  was  an  occasion  of  keen 
sorrow  not  only  to  the  church  he  had  served  so  long 
and  well,  but  to  the  denomination  wherever  his  name 
had  become  known. 

Dr.  Adams  was  succeeded  in  1865  by  Dr.  Augustus 
H.  Strong,  who  in  1872  resigned  to  accept  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary.  Rev. 
A.  J.  F.  Behrends  followed,  but  after  three  years  of 
highly  acceptable  service,  having  changed  his  views 
upon  subjects  affecting  the  Christian  ordinances,  he 
resigned,  entering  tlie  Congregational  ministry.  In 
1879,  Rev.  Pliilip  S.  Moxom  began  his  ministry  with 
this  ciiurch,  his  term  of  service  being  followed  by  that 
of  Rev.  E.  A.  Woods,  d.  d.  At  the  date  of  our 
present  record,  the  highly  efficient  pastor,  honored 
throughout  the  State,  is  Rev.  A.  G.  Upham. 

Connected  with  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Cleveland, 
during  many  years  was  Hon.  J.  M.  Hoyt,  distinguished 
among  Baptist  laymen  of  the  country  by  qualities 
which  brought  him  into  positions  of  conspicuous 
service.  During  thirteen  years  he  was  President  of 
the  Cleveland  Bible  Society.  Three  times  in  succes- 
sion, 1867 — 1870,  he  was  chosen  president  of  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  presiding 


AT    THE    CHIEF    CENTERS  119 

at  the  notable  anniversary  of  this  society,  held  at 
Chicago  in  1867.  He  was  a  writer,  as  w'ell,  articles 
by  him  in  the  '•  Christian  Review  "  commanding  at- 
tention by  their  intelligent  grasp  of  great  snbjccts, 
and  their  vigorous  and  manly  style.  Churches  in 
Cleveland  are  also  much  indebted  to  Mr.  John  D. 
Rockefeller,  one  of  whose  homes  is  in  that  city,  his 
membership  being  with  the  Euclid  Avenue  Baptist 
Church. 


CHAPTER  VI 

CONFLICTING    ELEMENTS 

rnHERE  were  many  tilings  to  occasion  more  or  less 
-i-  disturbance  of  harmony  in  new  communities  of 
the  West,  at  tlie  date  at  which  our  history  begins. 
Made  up  as  tiiese  communities  were  of  immigrants 
from  sections  in  older  parts  of  the  country  having 
their  own  diverse  peculiarities,  these  peculiarities 
were,  of  course,  quite  sure  to  be  imported  by  the  in- 
coming populations,  perhaps  in  exaggerated  form, 
while  at  the  same  time  finding  opportunity  of  propa- 
gation denied  them  in  communities  more  mature. 
Then,  it  should  be  remembered,  that  ideas  and  meth- 
ods in  matters  of  grave  concern,  now  well  settled 
through  lapse  of  time  and  the  test  of  experiment, 
were  then  new,  and  by  many  held  doubtful  even  in 
the  older  States. 

If  we  instance  the  subject  of  missions,  it  is  to  be 
considered  that  when  Baptist  history  in  these  five 
States  begins  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  the  first  so- 
ciety of  Baptists  for  missionary  purposes — that  which 
originated  with  Carey  and  Fuller — was  yet  to  be  or- 
ganized ;  and  that  even  when  that  great  new  step  for- 
ward in  modern  evangelism  had  been  decided  upon 
by  the  two  or  three  earnest  men  whose  example  few 
120 


CONFLICTING    ELEMENTS  121 

or  none  would  now  ever  think  of  calling  in  question, 
they  were  comparatively  alone  in  their  missionary 
zeal,  even  in  England  itself.  The  anti-mission  ideas 
of  early  Baptists  in  the  West  seem  strange  to  us  now. 
They  would  be  far  more  strange,  and  far  less  easily 
accounted  for,  if  it  had  not  been  true  that  what  some 
Western  leaders  were  then  saying  had  been  said 
before  them  by  no  less  a  man  than  John  Ryland, 
when  rebuking  the  young  William  Carey  for  propos- 
ing to  interpret  the  divine  purpose. 

What  was  true  of  missions  was  true  of  other  things. 
It  is  natural,  perhaps,  to  assume  some  peculiar  perver- 
sity of  mind  and  temper  in  those  who  could  see  no 
good,  but  mischief  rather,  in  sucii  an  addition  to  cus- 
tomary church  methods  as  the  Sunday-school,  or  such 
methods  of  reform  as  the  temperance  society.  Even 
in  the  land  of  its  birth,  the  home  of  Robert  Raikes 
himself,  this — the  Sunday-school — which  now  seems  a 
method  of  Christian  work,  justified,  and  even  de- 
manded, by  the  weightiest  considerations  of  Chris- 
tian duty  to  the  young,  and  to  that  swiftly  coming 
future  in  whose  life  the  rising  generation  is  to  actively 
share,  was  received  with  more  than  suspicion,  and  had 
to  make  its  way  in  face  of  great  opposition,  or  at  best 
indifference.  Of  the  temperance  idea,  like  things 
may  be  said,  whether  as  concerned  total  abstinence  on 
the  part  of  the  individual,  or  organized  effort  to  de- 
stroy what  was  felt  to  be  an  evil,  yet  an  evil  tolerated 
so  long  as  to  seem  almost  to  have  gained  its  own  right 
of  possession  in  every  community. 


122    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

These  several  forms  of  opposition  assumed  in  the 
new  communities  of  the  West  a  character  more  or  less 
exaggerated,  yet  they  were  at  the  time  far  from  being 
without  example  even  in  the  most  cukured  circles, 
whether  in  the  old  world  or  the  new.  Still,  account 
must  here  be  made  of  those  facts  in  Western  Baptist 
history  in  the  early  times,  especially  of  the  three  old- 
est of  the  five  States  under  view,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois,  which  impart  to  it  in  some  degree  a  char- 
acter of  its  own  in  the  particulars  here  considered. 
Certain  men  came  into  prominence,  as  leaders  of  op- 
position to  missions,  to  Sunday-schools,  and  to  tem- 
perance societies,  who  besides  this,  represented  pecu- 
liarities of  doctrinal  teaching  notable  at  the  time,  and 
still  more  or  less  surviving.  A  public  teacher  of  this 
class,  a  man  much  talked  about  in  his  time,  and  heard 
of  still,  was  Daniel  Parker.  His  doctrine  bore  the  name 
of  the  "Two-Seed  Doctrine,"  and  those  holding  it 
were  called  '•'  Two-Seed  Baptists,"  or  from  the  name 
of  their  leader,  '•  Parkerites." 

Dr.  John  M.  Peck,  iu  one  of  his  writings  at  a  time 
when  Mv.  Parker  was  still  alive  and  active  in  propa- 
gating his  i)eculiar  views,  mentions  it  as  "a  singular 
coincidence  and  mysterious  providence,  tiiat  tlie  year 
in  which  Isaac  McCoy  took  leave  of  the  Association 
(Silver  Creek  Association  in  Indiana,  organized  in 
1812)  which  he  had  nurtured  from  the  first,  the 
name  of  Daniel  Parker  appears  in  its  Minutes  as 
connected  with  the  Lamotte  Church  in  Crawf)rd 
County,  111.     Dr.  Peck  goes  on  to  say  : 


COXFLICTIXG    ELEMENTS  123 

Mr.  Parker  is  one  of  those  singular  and  extraordinary  beings 
whom  Divine  Providence  permits  to  arise  as  a  scourge  to  his 
church,  and  as  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  religious 
effort,  liaised  on  the  frontier  of  Georgia  (by  others  he  is 
spoken  of  as  a  native  of  Virginia)  without  education,  un- 
couth in  manner,  slovenly  in  dress,  diminutive  in  person,  un- 
prepossessing in  appearance,  with  shriveled  features  and  a 
small,  piercing  eye,  few  men  for  a  series  of  years  have  exer- 
cised a  wider  influence  on  the  lower  and  less  educated  class  of 
frontier  people.  With  a  zeal  and  enthusiasm  bordering  on 
insanity,  firmness  that  amounted  to  obstinacy,  and  persever- 
ance that  would  have  done  honor  to  a  good  cause,  Daniel 
Parker  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to  induce  churches  to 
declare  non-fellowship  with  all  Baptists  who  united  them- 
selves with  any  of  the  benevolent  (or,  as  he  called  them, 
"  new-fangled  ")  societies. 

His  mind,  we  are  told,  was  of  a  singdlar  and 
original  sort.  In  doctrine  he  was  antinomian.  He 
believed  himself  instiired,  and  so  persuaded  others. 
"  Repeatedly  have  we  heard  him  when  his  mind 
seemed  to  soar  above  its  own  powers,  and  he  would 
discourse  for  a  few  moments  on  the  divine  attributes, 
or  on  some  devotional  subject,  with  such  brilh'ancy  of 
thought  and  correctness  of  language  as  would  astonish 
men  of  education  and  talents.  Then  again,  it  would 
seem  as  if  he  were  perfectly  bewildered  in  a  maze  of 
abstruse  subtleties."  ^ 

It  is  not  easy  to  explain,  at  least  M'hat  was  meant 
by  Mr.  Parker  himself,  in  the  phrase  '*  Two-seed," 
which  in  time  became  so  notorious.  This  at  least 
may  be  said  ;  the  teaching  represented  by  it  was  that 

^  Quoted  in  Benedict's  "History  of  the  Baptists." 


124    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

form  of  antinoraianism  which  carried  the  doctrine  of 
predestination  to  its  utmost  extreme.  The  foHowing 
explanation  of  the  doctrine  is  said  to  have  been  given 
by  one  who  had  access  to  pamphlets  and  other  writ- 
ings relating  to  it : 

The  essence  of  good  is  God ;  the  essence  of  evil  is  the 
devil.  Good  angels  are  emanations  from  or  particles  of  God  ; 
evil  angels  are  particles  of  the  devil.  When  God  created 
Adam  and  Eve  they  were  endowed  with  an  emanation  from 
himself,  or  particles  of  God  were  included  in  their  constitu- 
tion. They  were  wholly  good.  Satan,  however,  infused  into 
them  particles  of  his  essence,  by  which  they  were  corrupted. 
In  the  beginning  God  had  appointed  that  Eve  should  bring 
furtli  only  a  certain  number  of  offspring  ;  the  same  provision 
ajiplied  to  each  of  her  daughters.  But  when  the  particles 
of  evil  essence  had  been  infused  by  Satan,  the  conception  of 
Eve  and  her  daughters  was  increased.  They  were  now  re- 
quired to  bear  the  original  number,  who  were  styled  the  seed 
of  God,  and  an  additional  number  who  were  called  the  seed  of 
the  serpent.^ 

The  former  of  these  constitute  the  body  of  Christ, 
who.se  salvation  is  certain  ;  for  the  latter  no  salvation 
has  been  provided. 

It  may  be  doubted  if  Mr.  Parker's  way  of  ex- 
pounding his  doctrine,  assuming  the  above  to  repre- 
sent it  fairlv,  would  now  be  recognized  by  those  at 
present  bearing  the  name  of  the  sect  founded  by  him. 
In  the  "Census  Bulletin  of  Statistics  of  Churches" 
for  1893,  prepared  by  Dr.  Carroll,  editor  also  of 
the  work    quoted   above,   we    find    it    said    that    the 

1  "  American  Church  History,"  edited  byH.  K.  Carroll,  ll.b., 
1893,  p.  49. 


CONFLICTING    ELEMENTS  125 

"Two-seed,"  or  "Two-seed  in  the  Spirit  Baptists" 
hold  simply  to  the  belief  that  "  there  are  two  seeds,  one 
of  death  and  one  of  life.  The  former  beearae  im- 
planted in  man  when  he  fell  from  the  state  of  holiness 
in  which  he  was  created  originally  ;  it  brings  forth 
the  fruitage  of  eternal  death.  The  seed  of  life  is 
communicated  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  those  who  are 
called  and  regenerated  ;  it  springs  up  into  eternal 
life."  The  number  and  destiny  of  the  two  classes 
are  fixed  by  unalterable  decree.  The  calling  of  the 
ministry  is  "  to  comfort  Zion,  feed  the  flock,  and  con- 
tend earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints."  They  "  do  not  believe  that  the  help  of  a 
minister  is  needed  by  the  Saviour  to  reach  and  save 
sinners.  He  carries  on  the  work  of  salvation  with- 
out the  help  of  man." 

Besides  his  itineracy  among  the  churches,  Parker 
was  a  writer,  and  among  other  things  published  for  a 
time  a  periodical  called  the  "  Church  Advocate." 
How  much  a  person  of  influence  he  was  is  sliown  by 
the  fact  that  during  four  years,  from  1822  to  1826, 
he  was  a  member  of  the  Illinois  State  Senate.  His 
disastrous  career  in  Illinois  and  Indiana  came  to  a 
close  in  1833,  when  he  removed  to  Texas. 

It  is  said  of  Daniel  Parker,  that  at  one  time  in  his 
earlier  career  he  applied  for  appointment  as  a  mis- 
sionary, and  upon  being  refused,  turned  against  mis- 
sion societies  and  missionary  effort  of  every  kind. 
However  this  may  be  as  to  Parker,  of  his  coadjutor 
in  anti-mission  campaigniug,  Wilson  Thompson,  it  is 


126    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

true  by  his  own  testimony  that  he  was  once  very  near 
to  espousing  the  cause  which  lie  spent  so  much  of  his 
life  in  opposing  and  denouncing.  President  Stott 
writes : 

His  (Thompson's)  home  was  in  a  splendid  flirniing  dis- 
trict, six  or  eight  miles  north  of  Counorsville,  Indiana. 
He  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1788,  and  became  a  minis- 
ter at  twenty-five  or  before.  He  traveled  a  great  deal 
in  Kentucky,  Indiana,  and  Missouri.  About  1816  he  en- 
tered land  in  Fayette  County,  Indiana,  and  preached 
for  several  churches  in  the  State,  making  trips  often  to 
other  States.  One  of  these  led  him  to  the  lower  Wabash 
Valley,  where  he  visited  Maria  Creek  Church  and  there  met 
Isaac  McCoy.  Mr.  McCoy  had  just  started  an  Indian  school. 
He  tried  to  interest  Thompson  in  it  and  in  missions  in  general. 
After  his  return  home  Mr.  McCoy  wrote  him,  still  urging  him 
to  come  and  engage  in  general  missionary  work. 

The  account  which  Mr.  Tliompson  himself  gives 
describes  the  mental  struggle  through  which  he  passed 
in  determining  the  question  whether  or  not  he  should 
join  Mr.  McCoy.  "  My  mind,"  he  says,  "'  became 
greatly  impressed  w^th  the  vast  importance  of  preach- 
ing the  gospel  to  all  nations,  and  as  the  poor  heathen 
savages  were  among  us,  and  we  had  their  land  and 
had  greatly  reduced  their  numbers,  I  felt  that  I 
would  seize  the  opportunity  now  offered  for  carrying 
the  gospel  among  them."  To  that  conclusion  he 
seemed  at  one  time  to  have  come.  But  when  he 
made  his  intention  known  to  the  churches  which  he 
served  he  "  met  with  strong  opposition  from  all  the 
members.     My    house,"    he    adds,    "  soon     became 


CONFLICTING   ELEMENTS  127 

crowded  day  and  iiio;ht  with  my  best  friends,  often 
pleading  with  me  with  tears  in  their  eyes  not  to  go." 
As  some  question  still  remained  on  the  general  sub- 
ject of  missions  in  themselves,  this  importunity  on 
the  part  of  those  he  was  serving  had  all  the  stronger 
effect.  Upon  the  wliole  he  seems  to  have  determined 
to  enter  the  work  of  Indian  missions  with  Mr. 
McCoy.     The  conclusion  of  all  he  describes  thus  ; 

I  had  my  horse  shod  and  all  in  readiness  for  the  next  Mon- 
day morning,  .  .  the  church  meeting  day  at  Pleasant  Run. 
I  had  hid  other  churches  farewell ;  to-day  I  bid  this  church 
farewell  also ;  but  expected  to  meet  them  again  on  Sunday. 
I  started  home  alone,  on  foot,  and  as  I  was  walking  fast  and 
in  a  thinking  mood,  these  words  came  to  my  mind  :  '"Who 
hath  reciuired  this  at  your  hands?"  It  thrilled  my  whole 
frame  and  set  me  all  in  a  shiver.  All  this  time  I  stood  like 
a  statue.  When  the  last-mentioned  text  came  to  my  mind  I 
•was  fully  satisfied  that  this  new  sj^stem  of  missions  was  of 
human  origin.  I  proceeded  homeward  with  my  mind  at  ease, 
and  I  have  never  felt  that  sort  of  mission  fever  since. 

From  one  circumstance  we  incline  to  infer  that 
Wilson  Thompson's  attitude  toward  missionary  or- 
ganization may  have  been  more  moderate  than  was 
the  case  with  some  others.  We  find  what  is  evidently 
his  name  in  records  of  the  Ohio  Baptist  State  Conven- 
tion, in  1830  and  183L  upon  committees  and  in  other 
connections.  He  may  have  remained  under  the  influ- 
ence of  impressions  such  as  came  near  making  him  an 
associate  of  McCoy  in  his  Indian  work,  at  least  so  far 
as  to  justify  to  his  own  mind  co-operation  with  some 
forms  of  missionarv  work  at  home. 


128    IILSTOKY  OF  BATTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

The  scene  of  Mr.  Thompsons  ministry  inchided 
districts  in  Indiana,  Ohio,  and  Kentucky,  and  he 
would  seem  to  have  been  to  some  extent  favorable  to 
educational  enterprises  and  to  State  organizations; 
although,  as  far  as  appears,  not  in  sympathy  with 
missionary  societies  in  general.  "  He  was,"  writes 
President  Stott,  "  strongly  influenced  by  Elder  John 
Taylor,  an  Anti-mission  Baptist  of  Kentucky,  who  so 
strongly  opposed  Luther  Rice  in  his  efforts  to  create 
a  missionary  spirit  there."  ^ 

There  is  evidence  that  the  reactionary  effect  of  such 
teaching  as  this  which  we  describe,  whether  in  the 
form  of  Parkerism  or  some  other,  was  exceedingly 
disastrous,  alike  upon  the  church  life  and  upon  indi- 
vidual character.  A  church  holding  these  views  is 
thus  spoken  of  in  the  letter  of  a  home  missionary  : 
"  It  is  a  large  church,  but  not  more  than  one-half 
could  read  the  word  of  God,  and  much  of  their  exer- 
cises in  religious  worship  was  conducted  without  in- 
struction, and  with  noise  and  confusion."  Statements 
made  in  a  sermon  before  the  Home  Mission  Society  at 
the  anniversary  held  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  in  1853,  by  Dr. 
D.  Shepardson,  then  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  in  Cincinnati,  furnish  a  strong  picture  of  the 
effect  produced  by  the  antinomian  teaching  of  Parker 
and  others  like  liim.  "  Its  name,"  says  Dr.  Sliepard- 
son,  "is  legion  (speaking  of  antinomianism  as  seen  in 

1  Mr.  Maurice  Thompson,  well  known  in  American  literature, 
is  believed  to  be  of  the  same  family  as  Wilson  Thompson;  per- 
haps his  nephew. 


CONFLICTING    ELEMENTS  129 

Western  communities),  and  like  a  cancer  it  has  rooted 
itself  deeply  and  eaten  into  society  in  every  direction. 
The  very  essence  of  sin,  it  is  full  of  excuses  for  its 
guilty  indolence  in  religion.  In  its  hatred  against 
God  and  all  good,  it  sees  in  modern  missions  Abra- 
ham and  Hagar  forestalling  the  purposes  of  the  Eter- 
nal ;  or,  at  best,  a  mere  money-getting  scheme  con- 
trived for  worldly  ends." 

Instances  are  given  in  the  connection  of  the  strange 
ignorance  and  intolerance  found  in  communities  where 
this  teaching  had  a  ready  reception  : 

One  sees  in  tlic  benevolent  societies  of  the  time  the  last 
plagues  of  the  Apocalypse ;  another  believes  that  Luther 
Rice  is  living  somewhere  in  luxury  and  splendor,  as  he 
"raised  funds  all  through  the  country,  then  mysteriously  dis- 
appeared, and  has  never  been  heard  of  since"  ;  while  a  third 
has  reason  to  believe  that  a  gentleman  rode  on  horseback  to 
Burma,  and  saw  Dr.  Judson  at  the  head  of  a  bank  established 
with  money  swindled  out  of  the  ignorant  by  lying  agents. 

Very  naturally,  another  question  became  associated 
with  this  of  the  scriptural  propriety  of  organized  mis- 
sions— that,  namely,  of  a  salaried  ministry.  Those 
holding  views  such  as  we  describe,  appear  to  have  also 
considered  a  paid  ministry  equally  unscriptural.  An 
illustration  we  may  notice  in  the  action  of  that  which 
was  the  oldest  Association  in  Illinois,  the  South  Dis- 
trict (Friends  of  Humanity),  at  a  session  held  in  1832. 
In  the  record  of  proceedings  we  find  the  question 
and  reply  : 

Query :  Whereas,  Some  of  the  brethren  of  this  Association 
I 


130    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

feci  it  to  be  their  privilege  and  duty  to  contribute  toward  the 
support  of  such  preachers  of  this  body  as  devote  the  whole  or 
part  of  their  time  to  the  ministry  of  the  word,  now  we  inquire 
if  it  would  be  a  bar  to  fellowship  in  any  one's  mind  if  such 
brethren  should  go  forward  in  this  business,  as  a  free-will  offer- 
ing, with  the  understanding  that  each  member  of  the  church 
is  at  liberty  to  give  or  not  to  give,  as  he  may  deem  his 
duty? 

Tills  query  is  answered  as  follows  : 

Alls.  This  Association  unanimously  says,  it  is  the  privilege 
of  such  members  to  give  freely  to  support  the  gospel,  with 
the  understanding  that  each  member  is  at  liberty  to  judge  of 
his  duty.  And  the  Association  urges  and  recommends  upon 
the  brethren  to  be  tender  of  each  other's  feelings  and  privi- 
leges, and  not  to  accuse  each  other  of  improper  motives. 

Thus  guardedly  was  it  found  necessary  to  speak 
upon  a  matter  now  so  completely  removed  out  of  the 
sphere  of  question  or  debate. 

It  is  proper  to  say,  as  a  matter  of  liistorical  justice, 
that  instances  such  as  those  firsi  cited  in  this  connec- 
tion, ought  probably  to  be  regarded  as  in  some  degree 
extreme  and  exceptional.  It  should  be  further  said 
that  while  anti-mission  churches  and  Associations 
are  still  found  in  these  States,  the  tone  of  their  teach- 
ing and  of  their  public  proceedings  is  more  in  accord- 
ance w^ith  the  spirit  of  this  present  time,  than  was  the 
case  when  the  conditions  were  so  diiferent  as  they  cer- 
tainly were  half  a  century  or  more  ago.  We  may 
here,  in  illustration,  avail  ourselves  once  more  of  a 
letter  from  our  obliging  correspondent,  President 
Stott.     He  writes : 


CONFLICTING    ELEMENTS  131 

A  few  years  ago  I  went  over  into  that  part  of  the  State 
(Indiana),  wliich  had  been  the  chief  scene  of  Thompson's 
labors,  and  was  invited  to  preach  in  an  anti-mission  meeting- 
house in  sight  of  Wilson  Thompson's  old  home.  I  was  de- 
lighted with  the  manifestations  of  neatness,  culture,  and 
plenty.  The  congregation  was  exceedingly  attentive,  and  al- 
though I  let  it  clearly  be  known  that  I  was  a  missionary  Bap- 
tist, nobody  seemed  to  object  to  the  doctrine  advanced.  I 
was  told  that  if  a  missionary  could  preach  there  a  few  times, 
and  show  a  genuine  brotherly  spiiit,  the  church  would  be 
brought  over  bodily.  ^ 

It  is  in  no  wise  surprising  that  ideas  such  as  we 
have  outlined  should  not  be  favorable  to  growth  in 
numbers  or  influence.  Anti-missionisra  in  Baptist 
churches,  however,  has  by  no  means  died  out.  Even 
the  strange  doctrine  of  Daniel  Parker  still  has  its 
adherents.  ^ 

Before  passing  to  another  phase  of  the  general 
subject  in  this  chapter,  we  may  take  from  some  notes  be- 
fore us,  by  Professor  Franklin  Johnson,  D.  D.,  a  few 
interesting  paragraphs,  with  particular  reference  to 
Ohio,  the  scene  of  the  early  ministry  of  his  father, 
Rev.   Hezekiah   Johnson ;   though,  indeed,   what  he 


^  About  the  time  Dr.  Stott  refers  to,  in  a  periodical  represent- 
ing opposition  to  missions,  published  in  St.  Louis,  articles  ap- 
peared advocating  the  formation  of  classes  for  Bible  study  ;  and 
more  recently,  in  a  general  conference  of  anti-mission  churches 
at  Connorsville,  Ind.,  it  was  resolved  that  the  gospel  must  be 
preached  "at  home  and  nb7-oad." 

2  The  "Census  Bulletin"  for  1893,  reports  the  membership  of 
this  sect  in  the  entire  country  at  9,932;  of  anti-mission  Baptists 
of  ail  names  and  sorts,  the  number  given  is  94,348 


132   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

says  is  true  in  the  particulars  indicated  of  all  the 
three  States  here  especially  under  consideration  : 

The  period  between  1824  and  1839  was  a  formative  period 
in  the  history  of  Ohio  Baptists.  One  great  practical  subject 
of  debate  among  them  was  that  of  missions.  Many  of  the 
churches  were  extremely  Calvinistic,  to  use,  and  perhaps  to 
misuse,  a  general  designation  ;  and  on  that  ground  opposed 
the  employment  of  human  means  for  the  salvation  of  the 
lost,  whether  in  this  land  or  in  any  other.  And  not  only  mis- 
sions, but  Sunday-schools,  and  sermons  to  the  unsaved  found 
but  little  favor  from  this  class.  The  divine  sovereignty,  there- 
fore, was  a  theme  of  vital  interest  in  the  pulpit,  and  I  have 
known  a  man  to  travel  twenty  miles  to  hear  my  father  preach 
on  the  doctrine  of  election. 

In  general,  preaching  was  far  more  theological  than  it  is  at 
present.  The  people  had  not  the  thousand  and  one  mental 
burdens  and  distractions  which  now  overwhelm  them,  and 
they  looked  to  the  minister  to  furnish  them  with  intellectual 
stimulus  by  discussing  great  doctrines  in  an  argumentative 
manner.  The  denominational  debate  sui^plied  an  intellectual 
want  to  which  the  platform  lecture,  the  editorial,  and  the  re- 
view article  now  minister.  The  champions  of  the  Baptists, 
and  the  Disciples,  or  the  Methodists,  would  meet  in  friendly 
controversy,  and  spend  a  week  or  ten  days  in  keen  battling  in 
the  presence  of  the  assembled  people.  The  whole  town  would 
be  aroused,  as  it  is  now  only  by  a  political  campaign,  and  men, 
women,  and  children  would  throng  the  scene  of  contest.  Nor 
was  there  so  much  feeling  as  many  might  suppose.  Usually 
some  lawyer  or  judge  would  preside,  preserve  excellent  order, 
and  require  courtesy  toward  each  other  from  the  contestants. 
The  hearers  went  home  to  search  the  Scriptures,  and  the  Bap- 
tists made  great  gains. 

They  speedily  learned  to  adjust  their  theology  to  missions, 
Sunday-schools,  and  revivals.  One  of  my  uncles,  some  years 
ago,  showed  me  a  small  log  schoolhouse  in  which  my  father 


CONFLICTING   ELEMENTS  133 

preached  some  of  his  carlj'  sermons.  He  called  my  attention 
to  the  marks  of  a  lock  which  had  once  been  on  the  door,  and 
gave  mc  a  curious  account  of  their  origin.  There  had  been 
no  lock  there  until  my  father,  one  Sunday,  preached  an  earn- 
est sermon  on  missions.  The  little  church  he  addressed  were 
so  offended  by  his  heresy,  that  they  resolved  at  a  business 
meeting  held  soon  afterward,  to  prevent  him  from  ever 
preaching  in  the  place  again,  and  voted  money  sufficient  to 
put  a  lock  on  the  door.  When  he  came  to  keep  his  next  ap- 
pointment, he  and  the  few  who  came  to  hear  him  found  them- 
selves debarred  from  the  house.  "It  was  not  long,"  my 
uncle  continued,  "till  the  church  changed  their  views  en- 
tirely, and  then  they  passed  a  resolution  to  remove  the  lock, 
as  a  testimony  of  their  regret  for  what  they  had  done." 

Allusion  is  made  iu  the  above  extract  to  public  de- 
bate with  the  "  Disciples,"  Campbellites,  as  they  are 
sometimes  styled,  though  perhaps  not  with  sufficieut 
regard  for  their  own  preferences  as  to  the  name  they 
shall  bear.  We  shall  not  find  it  necessary  to  dwell 
at  much  length  upon  the  phase  iu  Western  Baptist 
history  occasioned  by  the  introduction  of  the  teach- 
ings of  Alexander  Campbell  in  the  States  of  Ohio, 
Indiana,  and  Illinois,  in  which  alone  of  the  five 
States  iucluded  in  this  record  those  teachings  have 
really  gained  adherents  tc  any  extent. 

It  was  not  far  from  the  time  at  which  the  occu- 
pancy of  these  States  had  fairly  begun,  or  about  18C4, 
that  Thomas  and  Alexauder  Campbell,  father  and 
son,  who  i)ad  come  to  this  country  from  Ireland,  in 
the  course  of  a  revival  movement  among  the  Presby- 
terians, their  own  denomination,  in  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  broke  from  their  former  connections,  and 


134    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

adopting  Baptist  views  as  to  the  initiatory  Christian 
ordinance,  with  some  other  doctrines  peculiar  to  them- 
selves, soon  became  leaders  of  a  new  sect.  They  re- 
fused to  be  called  by  any  other  name  but  "  Chris- 
tian "  or  "  Disciple,"  and  avowed  no  creed  but  the 
Bible. 

One  peculiarity  of  this  teaching  was  the  promi- 
nence given  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  it  being 
held  that  in  connection  with  submission  to  this  rite 
comes  always  "  divine  assurance  of  remission  of  sins 
and  acceptance  with  God."  Passages  in  the  New 
Testament  which  speak  of  "remission  of  sins  "  in 
connection  with  baptism,  were  by  them  made  to  have  a 
more  literal  rendering,  so  as  to  exalt,  beyond  what  is 
usual  with  Baptists,  the  spiritual  efficacy  of  the  rite. 
The  ministry  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  held  to  be  in 
and  by  the  truth,  this  being  urged  in  such  a  way  as 
to  limit  the  ministry,  and  in  some  degree  to  disparage 
the  Spirit's  efficacious  work  in  Christian  experience. 
Confession  of  Christ  as  "  the  Son  of  the  Living  God," 
was  held  to  be  the  essential  thing  as  preparatory 
to  baptism,  in  submission  to  which  rite  remission 
and  acceptance  became  assured  to  the  believer.  The 
hope  of  Mr.  Campbell,  and  of  those  associated  with 
him,  was  to  make  this  teaching  the  basis  of  a  union 
of  believers,  in  which  existing  divisions  should  be 
healed  and  the  original  oneness  of  all  "  Disciples  of 
Christ"  restored.  In  this  view,  simplicity  of  method 
was  followed,  the  church  order  being  congregational, 
and  official  positions  in  the  church  being  confined  to 


CONFLICTING    ELEMENTS  135 

pastors,  called  also  bishops  or  elders,  to  deacons,  and 
evangelists — the  latter  being  more  or  less  itinerant 
and  missionary  in  their  service.  The  Lord's  Supper 
was  observed  on  each  Sunday. 

The  first  effect  of  the  introduction  of  this  teaching 
in  the  ne\y  States  was  necessarily  divisive.  Dr.  John- 
son has  spoken  of  the  public  debates  held  between 
Baptists  and  Disciples ;  this  becoming,  indeed,  for  a 
time,  a  marked  feature  in  Baptist  history  on  this 
field;  so  continuing,  more  or  less,  for  years  after. 
"  Campbellism  was,  in  some  sense,  a  rebound  from 
antinomianism,  and  yet  in  some  way  it  found  common 
ground  with  it  in  opposing  missions  and  the  mission- 
ary spirit.  Parker  and  Thompson  finally  opposed 
all  mission  operations,  as  Sunday-schools,  Bible  socie- 
ties, temperance  societies,  etc.,  and  Campbell,  in  op- 
posing human  creeds  and  organizations,  was  led  also 
to  include  whatever  did  not,  in  the  New  Testament, 
have  a  specific  sanction." 

Says  the  same  writer  ^ : 

The  defection  began  in  Southern  Indiana,  in  the  main. 
Some  of  the  leaders  who  went  out  from  Baptist  churches 
were  such  as  Elder  John  B.  New,  Chauncy  Butler,  whose 
descendants  founded  Butler  University,  near  Indianapolis ; 
Dr.  R.  T.  Brown,  and  Eev.  Dr.  Kane.  Some  churches  were 
slightly  disturbed  ;  others  were  divided,  each  part  still  retain- 
ing church  organization.  In  some  instances  Campbellism 
prevailed  and  the  Baptists  were  beaten.  Old  Father  Martin, 
who  lived  near  Washington,  Ind.,  told  me  of  a  case  in  which 
a  part  of  a  church  withdrew  to  the  farther  part  of  the  meet- 

1  President  Stott. 


136    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

ing-liouse  and  excluded  the  rest.      In  the  meantime  party  the 
second  organized  and  promptly  excluded  party  the  first. 

In  some  instances  it  appears  to  have  been  thought 
necessary  to  make  encouragement  of  the  new  teaching 
matter  of  personal  discipline,  at  least  so  far  as  is  im- 
plied in  the  resolution  adoped  by  Silver  Creek  Church, 
the  first  of  Baptist  churches  to  be  organized  in  Indi- 
ana. The  resolution  adopted  in  1830  declares  :  "This 
church  deems  it  disorder  to  invite  any  preacher  to 
preach  or  administer  in  the  church  among  us,  who  is 
of  the  pretended  reformation,  or  who  vindicates  or 
circulates  Alexander  Campbell's  pamphlets,  or  his 
new  translation  of  the  New  Testament."  ^ 

Like  other  forms  of  dis.sent  from  the  generally  ac- 
cepted Baptist  position  on  doctrinal  and  practical  sub- 

1  Simply  as  a  phase  of  past  controversy — or  what  is  mainly 
thus  of  the  past — it  may  he  of  interest  to  note  the  translation 
given  hy  Mr.  Campbell  in  his  version  of  the  New  Testament,  of 
a  passage  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (2  :  38),  which  in  the  de- 
bates was  more  or  less  a  crucial  one.  The  verse  is  made  to  read, 
^^  Reform  and  be  each  of  you  immersed  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  in  order  to  the  remission  of  your  sins,  and  you  shall  re- 
ceive the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  The  word  which  we  print 
in  italics,  Mr.  Campbell  held  to  express  more  exactly  the  force 
of  the  Greek  neravodia  (mctanoeo),  than  the  word  "repent."  He 
quotes  in  an  appendix  to  his  version,  with  approval,  the  render- 
ing of  the  Bishop's  Bible,  about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  "Amend  your  lives,  and  be  baptized,  ever}' one  of  you," 
etc.  Among  lexicographers,  of  course,  there  is  no  difference  of 
opinion  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  word  in  question,  as  im- 
plying "change  of  mind,"  intimated  in  the  word  "repent"  as 
commonly  used.  The  Campbellite  version,  however,  "  reform  " 
or  "amend  your  lives,"  while  clearly  incorrect,  implied  a  point 
of  doctrine  which  was  vital  to  the  controversy. 


CONFLICTING    ELEMENTS  137 

jects,  such  as  have  been  dwelt  upon  in  this  chapter, 
that  of  the  "  Disciples"  has  undergone  considerable 
modification.  Two  tendencies  are  said  to  be  mani- 
fest among  them.  "  While  some  churches  are  be- 
coming evangelistic  otlier  tend  toward  a  rationalistic 
form  of  teaching."  ^ 

To  what  extent  the  anti-slavery  issue  entered  into 
Western  history,  during  all  its  earlier  period  espe- 
cially, scarcely  needs  to  be  dwelt  upon.  We  shall 
here  only  cite  one  instance  illustrative  of  its  effect  in 
a  certain  direction.  On  an  earlier  page  we  have 
spoken  of  "  the  Leraen  family  "  and  those  associated 
with  them  in  planting  the  first  Baptist  churches  on 
the  Illinois  field,  and  of  their  earnest  anti-slavery 
zeal.  By  these  the  first  Baptist  Association  in  the 
State  was  organized.  It  bore  the  name  of  the  Illinois 
Baptist  Union,  and  was  formed  in  1807,  including 
five  churches :  New  Design,  Richland,  Mississippi 
Bottom,  Wood  River,  and  Silver  Creek.  At  first 
this  Association  was  in  correspondence  and  sympathy 
with  the  Emancipation  Baptists  of  Kentucky,  the 
"  Torrence  Rule,"  mentioned  on  a  former  page,  for- 
bidding admission  to  membership  of  those  who  fa- 
vored slavery,  being  in  full  force.  As  time  went  on 
and  the  anti-slavery  issue  became  more  pronounced, 

'  From  summarj'  of  this  denomination,  by  States,  published 
in  the  volume  of  "  American  Church  History,"  edited  by  Dr.  H. 
K.  Carroll  (1893),  we  learn  that  the  number  of  "Disciples  at 
that  date  stood  as  follows:  Illinois,  60,867;  Indiana,  78,943; 
Ohio,  58,425;  Michi.ajan,  5,788;  "Wisconsin,  1,317;  in  the  entire 
United  States,  641,051. 


138    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

with  a  growing  party  favorable  to  making  Illinois  a 
slave  State,  at  least  as  far  as  to  permit  the  holding  of 
slaves,  this  question  became  an  occasion  of  division 
among  Baptists,  and  the  Illinois  Baptist  Union,  the 
pro-slavery  element  predominating,  broke  fellowship 
with  the  Kentucky  Emancipationists. 

in  1809  the  issue  took  a  more  express  form  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Union,  Judge  Lemcn  speaking  very 
severely  of  the  course  taken,  and  an  opponent,  Larkin 
Rutherford,  replying  with  much  bitterness.  "  A  di- 
vision occurred,"  writes  Rev.  B.  B.  Hamilton,  "  and 
a  new  organization  was  effected  at  Cantine  Creek  on 
December  10,  1809;  a  church  composed  entirely  of 
the  Lemen  family,  and  the  oldest  church  having  a 
continuous  existence  in  the  State.  There  were  seven 
members,  the  mystic  number:  James  Lemen,  Sr., 
Catherine,  his  wife,  Robert  and  Hetty  Lemen,  James 
and  Polly  K.  Lemen^  and  Benjamin  Ogle.  These 
were  recognized  as  a  gospel  church  by  James  Lemen, 
Jr.,  and  John  Baugh,  an  ordained  minister.  On  the 
third  of  February  the  church  called  for  the  ordina- 
tion of  James  Lemen,  Sr.,  Joseph  Lemen,  and  Benja- 
min Ogle,  and  on  that  night  James  Lemen,  Jr.,  and 
John  Baugh  ordained  Benjamin  Ogle,  who  assisted, 
next  day,  in  the  ordination  of  James  Lemen,  Sr.,  and 
Joseph  Lemen."  This  was  a  primitive  way  of  doing 
things,  but  it  answered  its  purpose.  The  church  at 
Cantine  Creek  subsequently  took  the  name  of  Bethel 
Baptist  Church,  and  as  mentioned  above,  is  the  oldest 
surviviutc  church  in  the  State  of  Illinois. 


CONFLICTIXG    ELEMENTS  139 

Churches  In  fellowship  with  this  were  in  due  time 
organized  and  an  Association  formed,  with  the  name 
South  District  Association  (Friends  of  Humanity). 
About  the  year  1849  the  descriptive  clause  in  paren- 
thesis appears  to  have  been  dropped,  the  name  becom- 
ing from  that  time  forward  South  District  Associa- 
tion simply. 

The  anti-slavery  issue,  as  will  appear  in  subsequent 
pages,  entered  into  Western  Baptist  history  later,  and 
in  forms  yet  more  influential.  We  do  not  find  it 
necessary  to  dwell  further  upon  it  at  this  point. 


CHAPTER  yil 

CHURCH   GROWTH 

A  STUDY  of  the  conditions  and  results  of  church 
growth  in  these  five  States  finds  the  history- 
assuming  two  main  divisions,  the  one  antedating,  the 
other  succeeding  the  great  civil  war  of  1861-65.  In 
how  many  ways  conditions  secular  in  character  and 
national  in  scope  were  similarly  affected,  need  not  be 
dwelt  upon  here.  Indeed,  national  character  itself 
seemed  in  some  degree  to  undergo  change  not  unlike 
that  which  was  seen  in  the  men  themselves  who  in  the 
hardships  and  dangers  of  the  war  found  a  develop- 
ment and  a  discipline  such  as  only  these  or  like  fierce 
ordeals  occasion.  Sad  and  terrible  as  the  ordeal  was; 
vast  as  were  the  losses  and  the  sufferings  ;  sad  beyond 
expression  as  were  the  desolated  firesides ;  many  as 
were  the  unmarked  graves  on  abandoned  fields  of 
battle,  while  in  the  home  circle  was  sorrowful  wait- 
ing, never  to  be  rewarded  with  the  home-coming  of 
the  patriot  soldier,  it  is  a  relief  to  know  that  the  stress 
of  the  mighty  conflict  served  as  a  tonic  in  national 
character,  while  it  opened  a  new  future  to  the  nation 
whose  territory  was  not  only  saved  from  disruption, 
but  was  devoted  to  freedom  in  a  larger  sense  than  ever 
before. 
140 


CHURCH    GROWTH  141 

The  first  of  the  two  periods  hi  our  present  history 
of  whicii  we  have  spoken,  covering  the  seventy  years 
from  1790  to  1860,  was  a  period,  as  what  appears  in 
former  pages  amply  shows,  of  denominational  growth, 
in  many  ways.  This  was,  however,  more  apparent 
in  the  occupancy  of  new  ground,  the  multiplication  of 
churches  on  the  general  field,  than  in  acquisition  of 
actual  strength.  Growth  at  the  centers  was  less  evi- 
dent, while  on  the  wider  scene  increase  of  churches  did 
not  always  mean  increase  of  power.  Those  methods 
in  denominational  enterprise  which  now  yield  such 
important  results  mainly  came  into  use  in  the  years 
following  the  war,  although  the  need  of  them  had 
begun  earlier  to  be  keenly  felt. 

One  peculiarity  of  the  ante-war  period  in  denomi- 
national procedure  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  those  who 
planted  churches  at  points  where  the  rapid  growth  of 
the  crude  hamlet  into  the  town  and  the  city  was  con- 
fidently anticipated,  viewed  themselves  as  justified  in 
drawing  upon  the  anticipated  future  for  needs  of  the 
present.  It  came  to  be  almost  a  common  incident  of 
early  church  growth,  that  in  the  building  of  the  house 
of  worship  it  was  considered  both  expedient  and  safe  to 
leave  a  debt  upon  the  property  to  be  provided  for  at  a 
later  time  when  the  community  should  have  become 
more  populous,  and  the  church  increased  in  member- 
ship and  in  resources.  In  theory  this  form  of  pro- 
cedure might  very  naturally  seem  justified.  It  was 
too,  in  harmony  with  what  many  were  practising  in 
their  own  personal  affairs.     No  one  can  be  surprised 


142    niSTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

that  with  such  iraracasurablc  riches  in  tlic  soil  of  these 
great  States,  such  openings  for  commerce  by  kike  and 
river  and  rail,  such  rapid  influx  of  population,  and 
such  rapid  birth  and  growth  of  towns  and  cities,  it 
should  have  been  felt  that  a  future  so  promising  was 
a  mine  of  resource  whose  treasure  must  be  adequate  to 
meet  all  demands  created  by  real  or  supposed  needs  of 
the  present. 

The  result  w'as  not  as  had  been  so  sanguinely  an- 
ticipated. Debt  even  under  these  circumstances  was 
found  to  be  still  a  burden  and  a  danger.  The  growth 
of  the  town  in  many  cases  did  not  meet  expectation, 
or  if  no  disappointment  was  experienced  in  that  par- 
ticular, it  came  in  the  slower  growth  and  limited  pros- 
perity of  the  church  which  had  planned  its  expendi- 
ture upon  what  it  hoped  for  rather  than  on  what  it 
had.  Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  churches  crippled  with 
debt  grew  to  be  alarmingly  numerous,  and  the  effec- 
tive denominational  strength  was  thereby  greatly  les- 
sened. The  seeming  growth  might  almost  be  reckoned 
a  decline,  so  many  churches  were  crippled,  so  much  of 
church  property  at  promising  points  was  mortgaged 
and  endangered. 

The  change  for  the  better  which  in  due  time  came 
will  be  noticed  presently.  In  the  meanwhile  another 
feature  of  our  history  during  the  period  here  under 
view  must  be  noticed.  It  was  in  church  and  denomi- 
national affairs,  as  in  those  of  the  nation,  a  time  of 
debate  and  division,  upon  one  question  especially 
which  bore  upon  well-nigh  every  other  with  which 


CHURCH    GROWTH  143 

the  American  people  had  to  deal.  It  is,  indeed,  not 
surprisinj^  tliat  the  anti-slavery  and  pro-slavery  issue 
should  become  so  almost  universal  in  religious  as  \vell 
as  in  secular  relations.  Yet  perhaps  as  a  phenomenon 
of  the  time  it  was  little  realized  in  that  view.  The 
American  people  became  accustomed  to  meeting  it  at 
every  turn,  to  finding  it  confronting  them  not  only  in 
national  missionary  organization,  but  in  every  form  of 
such  organization,  not  excepting  the  local  church 
itself. 

No  question  will  be  raised  here,  as  to  sincerity  of 
opinion  or  worthiness  of  motive  in  those  who  took 
part  in  the  debates  hence  arising,  whether  upon  the 
one  side  or  the  other.  Full  recognition  of  what  is 
just  in  this  particular  was  not  to  be  looked  for  while 
the  great  issue  was  still  pending.  To  a  later  genera- 
tion it  belongs  to  bear  testimony,  as  is  due,  to  the 
varied  influences  under  which  opinion  at  such  a  time 
is  shaped  and  the  mixture  of  motive  by  which  actors 
in  the  debate  are  unconsciously  swayed.  At  the  time 
division  is  inevitable.  In  the  heat  of  controversy 
alienations,  even  in  circles  where  mutual  confidence 
and  affection  are  most  surely  to  be  looked  for,  will 
occur.  The  pending  issue,  indeed,  may  claim  for 
itself  an  absorption  of  interest,  and  a  place  on  all 
occasions  out  of  proportion,  even,  to  its  own  magnitude, 
however  great ;  and  earnest  souls  may  be  swayed  by  a 
conviction  that  to  this  one  interest  all  others  whatso- 
ever must  yield. 

These   two  causes  thus  briefly  indicated — unwise 


144   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

measures  in  local  church  enterprise  and  radical  divi- 
sion of  opinion  and  feeling  upon  the  immense  national 
issue  then  pending — very  much  aiiected  the  ordinary 
conditions  of  church  growth  during  the  first  of  the 
two  periods  into  which  for  a  present  purpose  the  time 
covered  in  our  history  is  divided.  Other  causes  of 
hindrance  might  also  be  added.  People  arriving  in  a 
new  country,  and  establishing  themselves  in  their 
homes  and  in  their  business  under  conditions  alto- 
gether new,  do  not  always  come  prepared  for  the  effect 
upon  themselves  of  changes  so  great.  They  do  not 
anticipate  the  unaccustomed  engrossments  of  those 
cares  and  labors  and  perplexities  which  a  wholly 
new  environment  causes  to  grow  upon  them,  perhaps 
with  little  of  consciousness  on  their  own  part.  If 
sustaining  church  relations  in  the  home  they  have 
left  in  some  Eastern  or  Southern  State,  they  not  un- 
naturally imagine  that  any  change  of  these  may  be 
left  until  they  shall  be  better  prepared  for  entering 
into  new  ones ;  or  if  they  bring  church  letters  with 
them,  the  use  of  these  may  be  deferred,  from  one 
cause  or  another,  until  it  becomes  too  much  a  matter 
of  mortification  to  reveal  the  fact  that  such  are  pos- 
sessed at  all.  Thus  the  measure  of  church  growth 
signally  fails  of  any  due  proportion  even  to  growth  in 
those  elements  of  population  which  might  be  expected 
to  aid  greatly  in  fostering  it  on  the  older  as  well  as 
the  new  fields. 

The  years  antedating  the  civil  war  must  then  be 
spoken  of  as  years  of  hindrance  and  delay,  in  spite  of 


OlIUKCU   GROWTH  145 

all  that  was  actually  seen  in  multiplication  of  churches 
and  organization  of  new  enterprises  such  as  in  these 
pages  are  described.  During  this  first  period,  indeed, 
much  of  what  is  now  seen  in  education,  in  State  or- 
ganization, in  Sunday-schools,  originated.  It  was, 
however,  for  all  that,  rather  a  time  of  beginning  and 
ordeal  than  of  growth  and  prosperity.  Following 
the  war  came  change  more  or  less  in  all  these  condi- 
tions. The  issue  of  the  war  itself  put  an  end  to  that 
Avhich  had  been  a  chief  cause  of  division  in  churches 
and  in  the  general  methods  of  the  denomination.  The 
new  spirit  in  national  aifairs,  as  these  shook  them- 
selves clear  of  the  crippling  effects  of  the  war,  was 
felt  in  many  directions,  and  may  be  said  even  to  have 
inspired  new  methods  in  matters  of  religious  organiza- 
tion and  religious  work. 

In  the  matter  of  church  debt,  indeed,  indication  of 
a  better  policy  began  to  appear  before  the  time  of 
which  we  now  speak.  The  paralyzing  effect  of  such 
burdens  came  to  be  realized,  and  the  fact  to  appear 
that  a  house  of  worship  with  a  heavy  mortgage  upon 
it  was  not  the  sort  of  offering  to  make  in  the  impres- 
sive ceremony  of  a  public  dedication.  Churches 
already  in  debt  instituted  measures  for  immediate 
relief.  The  aid  of  ministers  gifted  with  a  power  of 
public  appeal  was  called  in.  Efforts  to  clear  away 
church  debts,  with  the  fact  well  understood  that  it 
must  be  done  with  personal  sacrifice,  real  and  strenu- 
ous, on  the  part  of  the  membership,  became  a  feature 
of  the  time.     Men  like  Dr.  AV.  W.  Everts  of  Chicago, 

K 


146    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Dr.  G.  J.  Johnson,  Lewis  Raymond,  Rev.  E.  S. 
Graham,  and  others,  became  conspicuous  in  the  good 
service  rendered.  The  cliurch  edifice  fund  of  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  was  also  in 
certain  cases  made  available  to  a  like  end.  As  a 
result,  these  burdens  were  removed  and  a  lesson  im- 
pressed which  remained  as  a  permanent  effect  of  the 
experience  had.  It  came  to  be  the  rule  that  whatever 
of  arrears  remained  of  expense  in  building  must  be 
provided  for  before  the  dedication.  This  itself  often 
required  great  effort  and  no  small  sacrifice,  and  was 
often  occasion  of  regret  as  a  feature  in  the  ceremony 
of  dedication  not  to  be  desired,  yet  better  by  far  than 
that  which  had  been  so  damaging,  in  some  instances 
disastrous,  in  former  years. 

In  view  of  all,  it  may  be  claimed  with  justice  that 
the  religious  development  bore  some  just  proportion 
to  that  wdiich  was  seen  in  secular  affairs.  Instances 
have  already  l)oen  given  in  these  pages  of  the  prompt 
activity  of  Cliristian  men  at  the  very  moment  M'hen 
the  settlement  at  some  selected  spot  began.  And  it 
should  be  emphasized  in  the  record  to  how  great  an 
extent  these  were  not  missionaries,  having  the  teach- 
ing of  truth  and  the  care  of  spiritual  interests  of  the 
new  community  in  especial  charge,  nor  even  minis- 
ters, but  laymen,  burdened  with  many  cares  in  pro- 
viding home  and  livelihood  for  the  families  they  had 
brought  so  far  from  the  old  home,  and  from  compara- 
tive ease  and  comfort,  to  share  the  hazards  and  hard- 
ships now  to  be  faced.     Often  these  were  awake  to  the 


CHURCH  GROWTH  147 

religious  needs  of  those  about  them,  and  to  the  duty 
of  providing  for  them,  as  among  the  measures  first  to 
be  adopted.  Dr.  John  T.  Temple  sends  almost  at 
once  a  thousand  miles  for  some  faithful  preacher  of 
the  word  to  be  sent  to  the  infant  Chicago.  The  first 
settlers  at  Cincinnati,  having  no  minister  among  them, 
institute  meetings  for  themselves,  and  have  a  house  of 
worship  before  they  have  yet  found  a  pastor.  The 
first  Baptists  in  Southern  Illinois  become  a  church 
almost  before  they  have  made  themselves  homes,  and 
out  of  their  own  number  call  ministers  who  in  subse- 
quent years  are  to  feed  the  flock  of  God. 

The  fact  was  typical.  In  the  subsequent  growth  of 
churches  it  was  the  stanch  laymen  who  so  often  took 
the  burden  and  cheerfully  bore  it.  The  pastorate  has 
from  early  times  in  the  West  been,  in  most  cases, 
painfully  fluctuating.  If  it  had  been  that  on  every 
occasion  of  a  pulpit  left  vacant  church  work  must  be 
paralyzed,  or  even  seriously  checked,  where  would  all 
tiiese  churches  have  been  to-day  ?  Let  what  will  be 
said  as  to  limited  ideas  upon  pastoral  support,  or  lack 
of  generous  giving  for  needy  objects,  or  difficulties  of 
discipline,  growing  out  of  differences  and  collisions, 
it  should  ever  be  remembered  that  even  the  most 
zealous  and  persistent  ministry  would  have  failed 
without  the  backing  of  a  lay-membership  closely  ob- 
servant of  needs  and  opportunities,  prompt  to  recog- 
nize a  leadership  worthy  of  respect,  and  often  moving 
onward  in  needed  enterprises  with  no  leadership  at  all. 

This  is  not  to  disparage  the  Western  ministry.    The 


148    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

roll  of  justly  honored  names  here  will  bear  compari- 
son with  that  which  any  other  section  of  the  country 
may  oifer.  The  Western  ministry  has  been  peculiarly 
characterized  by  energy  of  character,  by  intellectual 
vigor,  by  hardihood  and  self-sacrifice.  As  compared 
with  that  of  other  sections  it  may  have  at  one  time 
been  deficient  in  culture,  yet  while  this  was  compen- 
sated by  other  qualities  more  needful  under  such 
conditions  as  existed,  it  has  grown  less  and  less  char- 
acteristic of  the  Western  ministry,  as  changes  in  these 
communities  tiiemselves  have  called  for  improvement 
at  this  point.  But  laymen  in  W^estern  churches  have 
often,  in  the  changes  occurring:,  found  themselves 
compelled  to  meet  the  exitjency  of  a  vacant  pastor- 
ate ;  even  where  no  such  vacancy  existed,  to  be  at  the 
front  in  many  a  testing  emergency. 

In  what  is  said  in  former  chapters  of  pioneers  on 
the  Western  field,  we  have  furnished  numerous  in- 
stances confirmatory  of  what  is  here  said,  of  both 
ministers  and  laymen.  As  we  come  forward  to  the 
later  period  when  church  growth  rather  than  church 
planting  is  tlie  subject  in  view,  names  crowd  for  due 
mention  in  greater  and  greater  number.  The  West, 
indeed,  especially  at  the  centers  of  population  and 
influence,  and  in  fact  on  all  the  important  local  fields, 
has  been  fortunate  in  the  ministry  it  has  been  able  to 
secure.  Enterprising  young  men  graduating  at  East- 
ern schools  have  welcomed  opportunities  of  service 
where  consecrated  manhood  might  find  occasion  for  all 
the  resources  at  its  command.     Tiie  Western  schools 


CHURCH    GROWTH  149 

have  drawn  to  share  in  their  growing  advantages  of 
cuhiire  young  men  ah-eady  infused  with  Western  en- 
thusiasm and  familiar  with  Western  needs.  Able 
and  devoted  men  have  been  found  willino;  to  ex- 
change  the  most  inviting  pastorates  East  for  the 
opportunity  of  sharing  in  the  growth  and  the  ever 
enlarging  scope  of  work  in  the  West.  Meanwhile 
opportunity  of  reciprocity  in  this  regard  has  been 
welcomed,  and  those  who  had  identified  themselves 
with  Western  life  during  many  years,  and  watched 
the  development  out  of  crudeness  and  deficiency  into 
im])roved  conditions  at  so  many  points  of  view,  have 
found  satisfaction  in  the  desire  so  often  shown  in 
Eastern  centers  to  command  for  prominent  pulpits 
those  born  and  reared  on  Western  soil. 

We  shall  illustrate  what  has  thus  far  been  said  in 
general  upon  the  special  topic  in  this  chapter  by  par- 
ticulars of  church  progress  at  two  of  the  main  centers 
of  population  in  the  five  States  considered,  reserving 
like  particulars  as  to  other  parts  of  the  field  for  a 
later  page  in  the  record  we  make.  If  we  turn  back 
once  more  to  the  scenes  of  the  earliest  beginning  in 
Western  Baptist  history,  and  take  up  the  narrative 
afresh  at  the  point  where  it  was  left  in  a  former  chapter, 
we  find  ourselves  in  the  particular  here  considered  at 
the  point  of  time  where  Dr.  S.  W.  Lynd,  after  a  pastor- 
ate of  fifteen  years  at  the  church  organized  under  his 
labors,  the  Ninth  Street  Church,  Cincinnati,  resigned 
in  1845  to  accept  that  of  the  Second  Baptist  Cluirch 
in  St.  Louis.     A  man  of  brilliant  genius  and  marked 


150   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

peculiarities  in  many  ways,  succeeded  him,  Dr.  E.  L. 
Magoon.  The  church  prepared  for  his  coming  by  the 
payment  of  a  debt  which  liad  accumulated,  and  by 
repairing  its  house  of  worship.  In  1847  it  had  the 
})rivilege  of  entertaining  the  national  missionary  so- 
cieties, the  first  occasion,  as  ^ve  believe,  of  these  anni- 
versaries being  held  in  the  West.  Dr.  Magoon's 
pastorate  was  brief.  After  about  one  year  of  service 
a  new  enterprise  in  church  organization  was  planned, 
and  he  resigned  at  the  Ninth  Street  in  order  to  be- 
come its  leader.  This  new  enterprise  failing,  through 
lack  of  necessary  means.  Dr.  Magoon  accepted  a  call 
to  New  York  City,  the  remainder  of  his  life  being 
devoted  to  Eastern  pastorates. 

Dr.  E.  G.  Robinson  was  at  this  time,  in  connection 
with  his  work  as  professor  in  the  Western  Theologi- 
cal Institute  at  Covington,  preaching  for  the  Walnut 
Street  Baptist  Church  in  Cincinnati.  In  1849  the 
Ninth  Street  Church  invited  him  to  its  pastorate. 
The  call  was  accepted  and  with  him  came  the  church 
to  which  he  had  ministered,  thirty  in  number,  to  be 
identified  with  the  larger  body.  Dr.  Robinson  held 
the  pastorate  some  four  years,  resigning  in  1853  to 
accept  the  professorship  of  Systematic  Theology  in 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.  The 
four  years  of  this  pastorate  were  a  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  church  long  after  recalled  with  uncommon 
satisfaction.  The  pulpit  of  the  Ninth  Street  Church 
took  rank  with  the  most  influential  in  the  city.  A 
coui-se  of  lectures  on  Sunday  evenings  by  Dr.  Robin- 


CHURCH   GEOWTH  151 

son,  exposing  tlie  errors  of  various  system  of  unbe- 
lief, "  filled  the  house  with  attentive  listeners,  min- 
isters of  other  denominations  and  many  scholarly 
men  being  among  them."  The  eminent  service  of 
Dr.  Robinson  during  many  years  in  the  position  to 
whose  claim  upon  him  he  was  reluctantly  surrendered 
by  the  church,  in  after-years  in  the  presidency  of 
Brown  University  and  later  still  as  professor  of  ethics 
and  apologetics  in  the  new  University  of  Chicago, 
amply  confirmed  the  higii  estimate  formed  during  this 
pastorate  of  his  rich  endowments,  whether  as  preacher, 
as  theologian,  or  as  qualified  to  instruct  in  those 
branches  of  human  learning  which  most  severely  tax 
insight  and  capacity. 

During  the  months  of  vacancy  following  the  depar- 
ture of  Dr.  Robinson,  the  pulpit  was  acceptably  sup- 
plied by  Rev.  Marsena  Stone,  until  1854,  M-hen  Rev. 
AV.  F.  Hansell  of  Philadelphia,  was  called.  Two 
events  of  much  interest  to  Baptist  growth  in  Cincin- 
nati occurred  during  the  four  years  of  this  pastorate : 
the  opening  of  a  Baptist  mission  among  the  Germans, 
and  the  organization  of  a  German  Baptist  church 
under  the  labors  of  Rev.  P.  W.  Bickel,  in  later  years 
so  eminently  useful  as  leader  in  Baptist  work  in  Ger- 
many itself;  and  also  the  organization  of  the  Mount 
Auburn  Cliurch  in  1856.  The  immediate  fruits  of 
Mr.  Hansen's  work  appeared  in  tlie  baptism  during 
his  pastorate  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  persons. 
The  brief  pastorate  of  Rev.  E.  T.  Robinson  followed, 
whose  early  death  was  much  lamented,  with  supplies 


152    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

of  the  pulpit  during  the  vacancy  so  caused,  by  Rev. 
O.  N.  Sage,  Rev.  William  Ash  more,  and  Rev.  J.  F. 
Elder.  In  1864  Rev.  AVayland  Ployt  became  pastor, 
his  service  continuing  until  1867,  when  he  accepted 
a  call  to  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  His  instructive  and  inspir- 
ing pulpit  service  and  well-directed  work  in  the  pas- 
torate added  one  hundred  and  ten  to  the  membership 
by  baptism,  the  house  of  worship)  being,  meanwhile, 
remodeled  at  a  final  cost  of  some  ninety  thousand 
dollars.  Rev.  F.  ]M.  Ellis,  who  followed  Di-.  Hoyt  in 
1868,  resigned  after  one  year  to  take  the  pastorate  of 
a  new  church  in  the  city,  the  Second  Baptist  Church. 
After  him  came  Dr.  Reuben  Jeffrey,  in  1869,  whose 
pastorate  of  four  years  was  a  highly  fruitful  one,  being 
of  special  service  to  the  church  in  the  removal  of  its 
debt.  Eighteen  months  passed  after  the  close  of  Dr. 
Jeffrey's  pastorate  before  his  successor  was  foiuid  in 
the  person  of  Dr.  S.  W.  Duncan.  In  1875  Dr.  Dun- 
can accepted  the  service  offered  him,  remaining  until 
1883,  when  he  left  to  become  ])astor  of  the  Second 
Baptist  Ciiurch  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.  Dr.  Duncan's 
pulpit  service  was  esteemed  as  "  eminently  sound, 
earnest,  and  forcible,"  frequently  "  in  substance  and 
style  of  the  highest  order."  His  executive  ability 
was  of  especial  service.  In  his  work,  says  the  record 
we  follow,  he  "was  ably  seconded  by  Mrs.  Duncan,  a 
woman  of  superior  mental  ability,  wise  judgment,  and 
active  sympathy."  As  a  successor  to  Dr.  Duncan  the 
church  was  so  fortunate  as  to  secure  the  service  of 
Rev.  Johnston  Myers,  who  came  to  it  in  the  summer 


CHURCH    GROWTH  153 

of  1884,  upon  his  graduation  at  the  Rochester  Theo- 
logical Seminary.  His  spirit  of  enterprise  and  his 
various  resource  in  methods  for  enlarging  the  scope  of 
Christian  work,  were  felt  as  an  inspiring  evangelical 
force,  not  only  in  his  own  church,  but  throughout  the 
city.  His  remarkably  efficient  pastorate  continued 
until  the  present  year  (1895),  when  he  resigned  to 
become  pastor  of  the  Immanuel  Cliurch  of  Chicago. 
In  a  few  months  his  place  was  acceptably  filled  by 
Rev.  Warren  G.  Partridge,  of  Scranton,  Pa. 

We  may  instance  the  Ninth  Street  Church  in  Cin- 
cinnati as  an  example  of  the  power  exerted  by 
churches  located  at  the  great  centers,  bringing  to  their 
pulpits  men  of  commanding  ability,  and  through  the 
inspiration  of  their  leadership  and  their  example  felt 
far  and  wide  in  the  development  of  a  kindred  spirit 
and  like  effective  service.  It  is  of  course  impossible 
to  do  otherwise  than  select  what  is  most  representative 
in  church  growth  at  points  like  the  one  here  con- 
sidered. A  more  ample  allowance  of  space  would 
enable  us  to  mention  other  work  and  workers  belong- 
ing to  the  history  as  fully  written.  The  pastorates  of 
Rev.  Daniel  Shepardson,  d.  d.,  and  of  Rev.  S.  K. 
Leavitt,  at  the  First  Church  in  Cincinnati ;  of  Rev.  W. 
C.  Wilkinson,  Rev.  A.  S.  Hobart,  and  others  at  the 
Mt.  Auburn  Church  in  the  same  city,  with  other  good 
service  by  devoted  pastors ;  of  the  work  in  city  mis- 
sions during  many  years  by  Rev.  J.  Emery;  and  the 
conspicuous  usefulness  of  laymen  like  II.  Thane 
Miller  and  Dr.  W.  H.  Doane,  whose  fame  as  a  musi- 


154    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

cal  composer  is  in  many  lands,  would  aiford  ample 
topics  for  gratifying  mention.  We  can  only  allude  to 
all  this  in  general  terms.^ 

Our  record  of  events  at  Chicago,  in  a  former  chap- 
ter, paused  at  the  death  of  the  first  pastor  there,  Rev. 
A.  B.  Freeman.  Changes  of  pastors  following  him 
were  quite  frequent,  although  his  immediate  successor, 
Rev.  I.  T.  Hinton,  coming  to  the  church  in  1835,  re- 
mained until  1842,  a  period  of  seven  years.  In  the 
year  last  named  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  C.  B. 
Smith,  after  whom,  in  1843,  came  Rev.  E.  H.  Ham- 
lin, whose  successor,  in  1845,  was  Rev.  Miles  Sanford. 
His  service  closed  at  the  end  of  two  years,  when  an 
interval  of  fourteen  months  preceded  the  settlement  of 
Dr.  Elisha  Tucker,  in  1848.  His  health  giving  way 
in  1851,  he  resigned,  and  was  after  one  year  succeeded 
by  Rev.  J.  C.  Burroughs.  Very  early  in  this  new 
pastorate,  the  house  of  worship,  built  in  1843,  while 
Rev.  E.  H.  Hamlin  was  pastor,  was  burned.  The 
church  began  at  once  the  work  of  rebuilding,  the 
cornerstone  of  the  ne\v  edifice  being  laid  on  July  4, 
1853,  and  the  house  dedicated  in  November,  1854. 
The  pastorate  of  Mr.  Burroughs  continued  until  1856, 

1  "The  Ohio  Baptist  Manual"  for  1893,  reported  for  Cincinnati 
ten  churches,  including  one  German,  with  an  aggregate  member- 
ship of  3,319.  Of  these,  the  principal  were:  Ninth  Street,  Johns- 
ton Myers,  pastor,  with  1,184  members;  First,  M.  C.  Lockwood, 
pastor,  299;  Tiiird,  G.  K  Eobbins  pastor,  545;  Columbia,  "W. 
E.  Stevens,  pastor,  800;  Mount  Auburn,  183;  Walnut  Hills,  W. 
Louck,  pastor,  281 ;  Dayton  Street,  J.  Ferris  Fatten,  pastor, 
112.     Much  illustrative  of  more  recent  growth  must  be  omitted. 


CHURCH   GROWTH  155 

when  having  entered  fully  upon  the  enterprise  of 
founding  the  projected  university,  he  resigned,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Rev.  \V.  G.  Howard,  d.  d.,  who 
had  been  for  several  years  pastor  of  the  Second  Bap- 
tist Church  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.  Upon  his  resigna- 
tion, in  1859,  Dr.  W.  W.  Everts  was  called  from 
the  pastorate  of  the  Walnut  Street  Baptist  Church, 
Louisville,  Ky.,  to  that  of  the  First  Baptist  Church 
in  Chicago. 

The  period  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  covered 
by  this  brief  record  may,  in  some  sense,  be  viewed  as 
standing  by  itself  in  the  history  of  Ciiicago  Baptists. 
With  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Everts  and  the  founding  of 
the  university,  and  soon  after  the  theological  seminary, 
the  Baptist  cause  began  to  assume  dimensions  some- 
what more  nearly  proportioned  to  what  was  going 
forward  in  the  city  itself.  The  establishment  of  a 
denominational  journal,  also,  destined  to  serve  as  an 
organ  for  the  entire  Northwest,  still  further  empha- 
sized the  importance  of  Chicago  as  a  denominational 
center.  Denominational  enterprise  in  the  establish- 
ment of  new  churches  had  already  taken  its  first  steps  in 
that  good  direction.  In  1S42  the  Tabernacle  Church 
had  been  organized  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
under  Rev.  C.  B.  Smith,  who  left  the  First  Church 
for  this  purpose,  taking  thirty-two  members  with 
him.  Soon  after  Dr.  Everts  began  his  pastorate  a 
third  church  was  organized,  and  a  house  built  on  what 
was  then  called  Edina  Place,  at  the  corner  of  Harri- 
son Street,  its  first  pastor  being  Rev.  Robert  Boyd, 


156    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

called  to  this  post  from  his  pastorate  at  Waukesha, 
Wis.,  the  chui'cii  under  his  devoted  and  spiritual 
ministry  enjoying  signal  prosperity.  Removing  after 
a  time  to  a  new  location  at  the  corner  of  Wabash 
Avenue  and  Eighteenth  Street,  and  later  to  another 
location  on  Michigan  Avenue  corner  of  Twenty-third, 
it  became  the  Michigan  Avenue,  as  it  is  now  the  Im- 
manuel  Church.  A  second  church  on  the  west  side 
was  formed  in  1856,  the  Union  Park,  now  the 
Fourth  Baptist  Ciiurch.  Avith  Rev.  A.  J.  Joslyn  as 
the  first  pastor;  and  in  1857  the  North  Baptist 
Church,  with  Rev.  J.  A.  Smith  as  pastor,  uniting  this 
service  with  his  editorial  work. 

A  marked  event  of  the  period  covered  by  the  pastor- 
ate of  Dr.  Everts — a  period  of  nearly  twenty  years 
from  1859  to  1879 — was  the  change  of  location,  in 
1864,  of  the  First  Church  to  Wabash  Avenue,  its 
property  at  the  corner  of  La  Salle  and  Washington 
Streets  being  sold  to  the  city  Chamber  of  Commerce 
for  sixty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  this  money  used 
in  part  in  a  way  to  forward  the  several  church  enter- 
prises of  which  we  have  already  spoken.  The  house 
of  Avorship,  also,  was  given  to  a  new  interest,  taking 
the  name  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church,  the  building 
being  taken  down  and  removed  to  the  corner  of 
Morgan  and  Monroe  Streets  on  the  West  side,  where 
it  was  re-erected.  With  this  new  interest  the  Taber- 
nacle Church  was  united,  members  of  the  First 
Church  on  that  side  of  the  river  contributing  to  make 
it  strong  and  efficient  from  the  bes-inninsr.     The  dis- 


CHURCH    GROWTH  157 

tribution  of  proceeds  of  sale  of  the  First  Church 
property  was  suggested  by  the  fact  that  so  many  of 
those  connected  with  the  various  new  church  enter- 
prises had  been  contributors  to  the  acquisition  of  the 
property,  so  that  it  was  felt  to  be  a  matter  of  justice 
and  fairness  that  such  a  distribution  should  be  made. 
The  measure,  as  adopted,  gave  new  life  to  some,  espe- 
cially of  the  newer  interests.  The  Second  Church, 
under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  E.  J.  Goodspeed,  called 
from  that  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Janesville,  Wis., 
at  once  took  rank  with  the  most  enterprising  and  effi- 
cient church  organizations  in  the  city  of  whatever  de- 
nomination. The  other  and  younger  churches  became 
conscious  of  a  like  impulse,  while  the  mother  of  them 
all,  the  First  Church,  in  the  hoble  edifice  erected  on 
Wabash  Avenue,  began  to  claim,  and  rightfully,  its 
position  as  among  the  foremost  of  American  Baptist 
churches.  The  burning  of  its  house  of  worship  on 
Wabash  Avenue  and  its  removal,  in  1875,  to  the 
present  location  in  the  more  southern  section  of  the 
city,  were  important  events  in  its  history. 

The  subsequent  history  it  is  clearly  impossible  for 
us  to  follow  in  detail.  New  church  enterprises  con- 
tinued to  multiply.  In  1864  a  mission  at  the  corner 
of  Thirtieth  Street  and  Indiana  Avenue,  near  the  uni- 
versity, was  organized  under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  J. 
A.  Smith,  out  of  which,  at  the  end  of  some  five  years, 
grew  the  University  Place  Church,  now  the  Memo- 
rial. In  1869  tiie  Western  Avenue  Church  began  its 
prosperous  career ;  in  1875  the  Centennial ;  in  1877 


1  58    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

the  Central,  Avith  Negro,  German,  Danish,  and  Swed- 
ish churches.  Missions  \Yere  founded,  as  the  city  grew 
and  extended  its  limits,  of  which  many  in  due  time 
became  churches.  At  the  date  of  our  present  record, 
the  English-speaking  Baptist  churches  in  Chicago 
and  its  near  vicinity  embraced  in  the  Chicago  Asso- 
ciation, number  seventy-four,  with  a  membership  of 
sixteen  thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy-nine,  in 
which  we  include  the  numerous  German,  Scandina- 
vian, and  colored  churches.  The  city  alone,  with  its 
suburbs,  reports  seventy  churches,  including  all  na- 
tionalities, with  a  membership  of  not  far  from  fifteen 
thousand ;  the  number  of  missions  sustained,  without 
reference  to  nationality,  twenty- five. 

It  would  be  a  grateful  service  indeed,  to  wiite  in 
detail  of  the  men  who  have  been  active  in  the  Chicago 
Baptist  ministry  during  the  sixty  years  which  this 
brief  record  covers.  Dr.  Everts  was  succeeded  at  the 
First  Church  by  Dr.  Loriraer,  and  he  by  Dr.  Henson, 
the  present  pastor  ;  notable  pastorates,  all  three,  rank- 
ing the  First  Church  pulpit  with  those  in  this  country, 
of  whatever  denomination,  whose  fame  is  most  widely 
spread.  Dr.  Lorimer  left  the  First  Church  with  a 
devoted  corps  of  earnest  men  and  women  to  raise  up 
from  its  ashes  the  INIichigan  Avenue  Church,  which 
had  been  burned  and  its  membership  disheartened. 
Rev.  K.  B.  Tupper  being  pastor  at  the  time,  with  a 
heavy  debt  added  to  the  burden  of  its  misfortunes. 
How  triumphantly  successful  this  courageous  venture 
proved  is  matter  of  undying  record,  the  church  tak- 


CHURCH   GROWTH  159 

ing  the  name  of  Immanuel,  perhaps  in  grateful  rec- 
ognition of  the  fact  that  "  God  with  us "  had  been 
so  much  their  encouragement  and  their  inspiration. 
Dr.  Lorimer's  removal  to  Boston  brought  to  this  con- 
spicuous pulpit  a  Boston  pastor,  Rev.  O.  P.  GifFord, 
whose  ministry  continued  the  splendid  record  made 
by  his  predecessors  ;  of  whom,  besides  Dr.  Lorimer, 
and  antedating  the  burning  of  the  house  of  worship, 
we  may  name,  while  the  church  was  at  its  old  loca- 
tion on  Wabash  Avenue,  Drs.  Robert  Boyd,  E.  G. 
Taylor,  Samuel  Baker,  Jesse  B.  Thomas — under 
whose  inspiring  ministry  the  removal  to  Michigan 
Avenue,  with  the  erection  of  the  new  house  of  worship 
occurred— F.  M.  Ellis,  J.  W.  Gust  is,  and  K.  B. 
Tupper.  Also  the  present  pastor,  Rev.  Johnston 
Myers  (1895),  who  came  to  this  important  field  from 
Ninth  Street  Church,  Cincinnati. 

At  the  Second  Church,  Dr.  E.  J.  Goodspeed,  as  his 
health  began  to  give  way,  had  an  assistant  for  a  time 
in  the  person  of  Rev.  T.  W.  Goodspeed,  his  brother, 
who,  upon  the  resignation  of  the  former,  became  sole 
pastor,  until  called  to  the  secretaryship  of  the  Baptist 
Union  for  Theological  Education ;  Dr.  Galusha  An- 
derson came  next,  from  the  Strong  Place  Church, 
Brooklyn,  and  was  succeeded,  upon  accepting  the 
presidency  of  the  university,  by  Rev.  John  Peddie, 
D.  D.,  who,  when  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  New  York  City,  was  in  turn  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  W.  M.  Lawrence,  d.  d.,  Philadelphia, 
whose  most  successful  pastorate  still  continues.    These 


IGO   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

enterprising  pastors  and  eloquent  preachers  have  made 
the  church  an  evangelical  force  scarcely  equaled  by 
any  in  the  city.  With  co-operation  of  men  and 
women  peculiarly  suited  to  be  helpers  in  the  work, 
the  church  became  under  their  ministry  a  very  hive 
of  Christian  activity,  with  constant  accessions  to  the 
membership  of  those  coming  from  the  darkness  into 
the  light.  The  Tabernacle  Church,  previous  to  its 
union  with  the  Second  Church,  as  before  described, 
had  enjoyed  the  ministry  of  such  true  men  as  Lewis 
Raymond,  Archibald  Kenyon,  I.  E.  Kenney,  and  Dr. 
Nathaniel  Colver,  at  the  time  of  whose  pastorate  the 
change  alluded  to  was  made. 

The  Fourth  Baptist  Church,  originally  the  Union 
Park,  has  also  a  notable  history.  Its  pastors,  up  to 
the  time  of  the  occupancy  of  its  present  new  and  hand- 
some house  of  worship  at  a  more  central  and  more 
desirable  location,  were  A.  J.  Joslyn,  I.  S.  Mahan,  E. 
G.  Taylor,  Florence  McCarthy,  D.  B.  Cheney,  d.  d., 
E.  B.  Hulbert,  d.  d,,  and  J.  S.  Kennard,  D.  d.  Tiie 
last  three  were  especially  characterized  by  pulpit 
power  and  the  inspiration  of  an  enterprising  leader- 
ship. The  pastor  in  charge  at  the  date  of  our  pres- 
ent record.  Rev.  Kittredge  Wheeler,  succeeding  Rev. 
J.  Wolfenden,  is  fully  sustaining  the  reputation  won 
for  the  Fourth  Church  pulpit  by  those  who  had  pre- 
ceded him. 

The  University  Place  Church,  after  two  changes  of 
location,  finally  secured  a  desirable  one  on  Oakwood 
Boulevard,  in  the  southern  section  of  the  city.     Its 


CHURCH    GROWTH  161 

history  was  iu  the  earlier  years  characterized  by  some 
vicissitudes,  occasioned  partly  by  changes  in  the  uni- 
versity and  the  theological  seminary,  with  which  it  was 
much  identified.  For  pastors  it  had,  beginning  with 
Dr.  William  Hague,  in  1868,  such  as  Dr.  E.  C. 
Mitchell,  A.  J.  Frost,  A.  Owen,  Rev.  J.  T.  Burhoe, 
Dr.  N.  E.  Wood,  Rev.  E.  D.  Burr  ;  Rev.  L.  A. 
Crandall,  d.  d.,  having  been  called  in  1892,  in  which 
year  his  stimulating  and  enterprising  ministry  at  this 
church  began. 

As  we  write,  Rev.  C.  Perren,  d.  d.,  at  the  West- 
ern Avenue  Church,  is  still  prosperous  and  honored  in 
a  pastorate  which  has  already  approached  the  term  of 
full  twenty  years.  The  church,  organized  under  the 
ministry  of  Rev.  John  Gordon,  in  1869,  has  reason 
to  felicitate  itself  that  it  has  been  favored  with  a  pas- 
torate so  steady,  so  judicious,  with  pulpit  service 
characterized  in  a  very  peculiar  degree  by  intellectual 
force  and  an  evangelical  spirit.  In  a  like  way  favored 
has  been  the  Centennial  Church,  whose  origin  dates 
from  the  year  1875.  With  Dr.  N.  E.  Wood  as  its 
first  pastor  and  Dr.  C.  E.  Hewitt  as  his  successor,  it 
has  now  for  many  years  had  the  ministry  of  Rev.  A. 
K.  Parker,  d.  d.,  one  of  the  most  scholarly  men  in 
the  Baptist  ministry,  an  influential  member  of  the 
Board  of  the  new  University  of  Chicago,  and  a 
preacher  and  pastor  whose  hold  upon  the  interest  of 
those  whom  he  serves,  with  solid  results  of  well-di- 
rected teaching  and  labor,  is  more  conspicuous  year 
by  year. 

li 


162   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

C(3nnected  with  other  churches  have  been  :  With 
the  North  Church,  Drs.  S.  W.  Lynd,  A.  H.  Strong, 
Adin  A.  Kendrick,  afterward,  during  the  term  of 
twenty-two  years,  president  of  ShurtlefF  College, 
Reuben  Jeffrey,  and  O.  T.  Walker ;  with  the  In- 
diana Avenue  Church  before  its  union  with  the  First 
Church,  Drs.  M.  E.  Riddle,  F.  D.  Rickerson,  and 
Rev.  W.  W.  Everts,  Jr.  ;  with  the  Central  Church 
Rev.  E.  O.  Taylor  and  Rev.  H.  H.  Barbour ;  with 
the  La  Salle  Avenue,  Rev.  T.  B.  Thames  and  Rev. 
H.  O.  Rowlands,  d.  d.,  whose  successor  in  this  pas- 
torate, J.  Q.  A.  Henry,  came  to  it  from  San  Francisco 
in  the  summer  of  1895. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ON  THE   GENEEAL   FIELD 

BY  no  means  the  least  interesting  examples  of 
progress  in  church  planting  and  general  devel- 
opment are  found  at  those  other  less  conspicuous 
centers  which  represent  growth  in  population  and  in 
secular  achievement,  perhaps  the  more  to  be  remarked 
as  due  to  a  spirit  of  enterprise  widely  prevailing. 
AVe  continue  our  record  in  the  line  of  this  further  de- 
velopment, resuming  with  the  State  of  Indiana. 

Of  the  first  sermon  at  Lafayette,  by  Rev.  W.  M. 
Pratt,  D.  D.,  preached  in  a  tavern,  with  the  bar  for 
his  pulpit,  we  have  spoken  in  another  connection. 
About  the  year  1837,  or  1838,  Rev.  S.  G.  Miner  was 
on  the  field.  After  some  two  years,  he  spent  one  year 
in  a  like  service  at  Franklin,  and  then,  in  1842,  re- 
turned to  Lafayette,  where  he  remained  until  1847. 
Rev.  Anson  Tucker,  one  of  the  five  brothers  so  well 
known  in  the  Baptist  ministry  of  both  the  East  and 
the  West,  succeeded  him.  Rev.  T,  L.  Breckenridge 
followed,  a  gifted  man  and  a  brilliant  preacher.  Dr. 
O.  B.  Stone  came  next  in  a  vigorous  ministry  of  some 
years. 

The  Lafayette  pastors  have  found  noble  helpers  in 
such  men  as  Deacon  Henderson,  father  of  Prof.  C.  R. 

163 


164    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS    IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Henderson,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  M.  L. 
Pierce,  Esq.,  and  Deacons  Robert  Brecken ridge  and 
W.  J.  Roseberry.  At  Indianapolis  not  only  the 
church,  but  the  Sunday-school  cause  and  the  whole 
State  found  a  most  active  and  valuable  friend  and 
supporter  in  Deacon  J.  R,.  Osgood,  and  that  of  edu- 
cation, along  with  the  church,  in  Mr.  E.  C.  Atkins ; 
besides  whom  we  name  in  that  church,  Henry  Brad- 
ley, Henry  Brady,  and  Nicholas  McArty.  These 
whom  we  name  in  Indiana  are  indeed  only  a  few  of 
many  sucli,  in  this  and  in  other  States,  whose  service 
in  every  good  cause  throughout  the  West  would  en- 
title them  to  a  lasting  memorial. 

Of  Franklin,  as  the  educational  center  of  tlie  State, 
especial  mention  should  be  made.  We  avail  our- 
selves again  of  President  Stott's  ample  and  exact  in- 
formation upon  the  subject.     He  says  : 

As  early  as  1829  an  "  arm  "  of  the  Blue  River  Church  was 
formed  at  Franklin.  Elder  Chauncey  Butler,  father  of  Ovid 
Butler,  the  founder  of  Butler  University  near  Indianapolis, 
was  moderator,  and  Elder  S.  Harding,  clerk.  Elder  Hard- 
ing was  made  pastor  when,  in  1833,  the  church  felt  able  to 
support  a  pastor.  In  1836  Rev.  Byron  Lawrence  was  called 
to  the  pastorate,  and  in  1837  Rev.  A.  R.  Hinckley,  who  was 
engaged  also  in  the  college  and  was  active  in  erecting  a  church 
building.  Pastor  Hinckley  soon  died,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  S.  G.  Miner,  well  known  in  Illinois.  After  him  came 
Rev.  G.  C.  Chandler,  at  once  pastor  of  the  church  and  presi- 
dent of  the  college. 

Dr.  Stott  mentions  in  this  connection  an  incident, 
characteristic  of  the  time,  which  we  will  quote : 


ON   THE   GENERAL    FIELD  165 

Presiicnt  Chandler  was  from  New  England,  and  did  not 
readily  conform  to  the  "ways"  of  his  Franklin  brethren, 
many  of  whom  were  from  Kentucky.  Ho  wanted  the  mem- 
bers of  the  church  to  get  themselves  hymn  books.  They 
wanted  the  hj'mns  "  lined  out."  By  vote  the  church  ordered 
the  hymns  lined  out.  He  said  "All  right,"  but  that  he 
wouldn't  line  them  ;  and  he  didn't. 

Pastors  who  followed  Dr.  Chandler  were  Rev.  E. 
J.  Todd,  Rev.  J.  W.  B.  Ti-sdale,  Rev.  J.  G.  Kerr, 
and  Rev.  J.  S.  Read.     Dr.  Stott  says : 

In  1 852,  or  soon  after,  the  differing  tastes  of  the  conserva- 
tive members  and  those  of  the  college  people,  led  to  the  for- 
mation of  the  East  Franklin  or  College  Church.  President 
S.  Bailey  was  pastor,  and  the  church  and  Sunday-school  had 
genuine  spiritual  prosperity,  while  many  were  converted.  But 
wise  brethren  in  the  State  saw  that  this  state  of  things  "  ought 
not  to  be, "  and  so,  after  many  consultations,  the  East  Frank- 
lin Church,  in  1859,  joined  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Frank- 
lin, and  the  sequel  proved  the  wisdom  of  the  concession. 

The  space  at  our  command  wull  only  permit  us  to 
speak  of  the  origin  of  the  church  at  Terre  Haute,  in 
1836,  with  nine  members,  under  the  ministry  of  Rev. 
Samuel  K.  Sparks;  of  La  Porte,  in  probably  1838, 
with  Rev.  Benjamin  Sawin  (good  Father  Sawin,)  as 
the  first  pa.stor,  Rev.  Silas  Tucker  following  him  ;  of 
Delphi,  about  1832,  under  Rev.  William  Rees;  of 
Yincennes  much  later,  in  1864,  of  which  Rev.  J.  S. 
Gillespie  was  first  pastor,  with  Rev.  L.  D.  Robinson, 
Rev.  B.  F.  Gavins,  d.  d.,  Rev.  S.  M.  Stimson,  d.  d., 
and  Rev.  D.  Heagle,  d.  d.,  as  subsequent  ones.     We 


166    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

can  in  this,  as  in  other  States,  notice  only  represent- 
ative instances  of  church  planting  at  centers  of  pop- 
ulation important  in  our  present  history. 

The  origin  of  the  First  Church  in  Columbus,  Ohio, 
antedates  by  some  three  or  four  years  that  at  Cleve- 
land. We  find  it  named  on  the  list  of  churches  rep- 
resented at  the  first  anniversary  of  tlie  Ohio  Baptist 
State  Convention  in  1827,  a  delegate  on  that  occasion 
being  George  Jeffries,  who  is  made  one  of  the  Con- 
vention Board  of  trustees.  A  missionary  society  at 
Columbus,  auxiliary  to  the  Cincinnati  Domestic  Mis- 
sionary Society  was  one  of  those  named  as  uniting 
to  constitute  the  Convention  in  1826.  In  Minutes  of 
the  anniversary  of  the  Convention  in  1833  we  again 
find  the  name  of  George  JeflPries. 

In  1835  Rev.  T.  R.  Cressey  came  to  Columbus 
under  appointment  of  the  Home  Mission  Society, 
continuing  in  service  there  until  1842.  To  Mr. 
Cressey  succeeded  Rev.  D.  A.  Randall,  followed  by 
Rev.  D.  B.  Cheney,  in  whose  support  the  church  was 
at  first  still  aided  by  the  society.  Mr.  Cheney  came 
to  Columbus,  from  Norwich,  Conn.,  wliere  his  pastor- 
ate had  been  a  highly  successful  one,  yet  from  whicli 
he  was  drawn  westward  by  his  strong  desire  to  siiare 
in  the  work  on  new  fields.  He  was  a  native  of 
Massachusetts,  born  at  Southbridge,  in  that  State,  in 
1820.  He  was  baptized  at  sixteen  years  of  age  by 
Dr.  J.  G.  Binney,  afterward  so  well  known  as  a  mis- 
sionary in  Burma.  To  Dr.  Binney  he  is  said  to  have 
been,  in  his  earlier  Christian  life,  greatly  indebted. 


ON    THE   GENERAL   FIELD  167 

He  pursued  his  studies  at  the  Worcester  aud  Shel- 
burne  Falls  Academies,  aud  at  Amherst  College.  At 
the  age  of  tweuty-three  he  was  ordained  at  Mans- 
field, Conn.  From  the  first  years  of  his  ministry, 
his  mind  was  toward  the  West,  and  although  after 
five  years  at  Columbus,  he  returned  East  for  a  Phila- 
delphia pastorate,  and  although  his  marked  execu- 
tive ability  directed  attention  toward  him  repeatedly 
as  a  fit  man  for  a  secretaryship  in  one  or  other  of  the 
great  national  societies,  his  preference  for  the  pastor- 
ate and  for  this  kind  of  service  in  the  West  re- 
mained. In  1859  he  came  west  again,  this  time  to 
San  Francisco,  from  which  city  he  removed  to  Bos- 
ton, but  in  1874  returned  westward  to  Chicago,  and 
from  that  time  onward,  was  identified  with  Western 
interests,  in  pastorates  at  Chicago  and  Elgin,  111.,  and 
at  Lima,  O.  While  in  Chicago  he  was  an  influential 
member  of  the  Board  of  trustees  of  the  theological 
seminary,  his  excellent  judgment  in  matters  of  ad- 
ministration being  held  in  tlie  highest  esteem  by  his 
associates  there. 

We  find  it  stated  that  while  the  first  Baptist  church 
in  Dayton,  Ohio,  was  constituted  and  recognized  in 
1824,  "  there  are  traces  of  Baptists  in  the  place  as 
early  as  1806,  and  for  some  time  there  had  been  preach- 
ing by  traveling  ministers."  '  For  particular  men- 
tion we  come  forward  to  the  date  of  1856,  at  which 
time  Rev.  Samson  Talbot,  a  name  much  honored  in 

»  "Baptist  Cyclopaedia." 


1G8    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Ohio  history,  became  pastor.  A  native  of  Ohio,  born 
in  Urbaua,  in  1828,  lie  was  educated  at  Granville 
College  and  at  Newton  Tlieological  Institute.  His 
thouo-hts  and  wishes  were  at  first  toward  the  foreign 
field,  and  especially  Siam,  to  which  mission  he  ac- 
cepted an  appointment  by  the  Missionary  Union. 
Some  delay  occurring,  his  purpose  became  changed, 
and  in  1856  he  accepted  the  call  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church  at  Dayton  to  become  its  pastor.  His  service 
here  lasted  until  1863,  when  he  accepted  the  presidency 
of  the  college  which  is  now  Denison  University. 

Next  followino;  Dr.  Talbot,  we  find  especial  mention 
made  of  Rev.  H.  Harvey,  D.  D.,  who,  about  1860,  left 
the  professorship  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Pastoral 
Theology  at  Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  to  become  pastor  at  Day- 
ton. His  health  failing,  he  returned  to  Hamilton  in 
1867.  In  the  following  year,  1868,  H.  F.  Colby  was 
ordained  pastor  on  completion  of  his  studies  at  Newton. 
The  son  of  Hon.  Gardner  Colby,  whose  name  is  so  hon- 
orably identified  especially  svith  the  educational  hi.-tory 
of  the  denomination  in  New  England,  Dr.  Colby  was 
permitted  to  see  the  Baptist  strength  in  the  city  which 
was  his  first  field  of  labor,  increase  in  such  a  way 
that  in  due  time  it  could  be  spoken  of  as,  next  after 
Cincinnati  and  Cleveland,  exceeding  in  financial  abil- 
ity and  in  moral  power  those  of  any  other  city  in  the 
State.  Along  with  a  memoir  of  his  father.  Dr.  Colby 
has  published  various  sermons,  together  with  poems 
written  for  special  occasions.  In  all  State  affairs  that 
concern  the  denomination   his  position  is  that  of  a 


ON    THE   GENERAL   FIELD  169 

trusted  and  honored  leader.  In  the  membership  of 
his  church  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  numbering  men 
with  national  reputation  as  leaders  in  great  enterprises 
and  generous  givers  in  their  behalf:  notably,  Dr.  J. 
B.  Thresher  and  his  son,  Mr.  E.  M.  Thresher;  an- 
other of  the  family,  U.  M.  Thresher,  being  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  as  mentioned  elsewhere,  a  professor  in 
Denison  University. 

As  representative  of  a  class  of  men  to  whom  Ohio 
owes  much,  we  copy  the  following,  furnished  us  by  a 
correspondent : 

Rev.  P.  M.  Weddell  came  from  a  successful  pastorate  at 
Pittsburg  across  the  line  to  Ohio  in  1855,  and  has  for  forty 
years  illustrated  in  his  pastoral  settlements  the  good  work  of 
•which  so  little  is  said  publicly,  but  out  of  which  conies  so 
large  a  measure  of  the  growth  of  churches  in  our  medium- 
sized  cities — the  work  of  the  evangelistic  pastor.  Upon  invi- 
tation of  the  Home  Mission  Society,  he  took  charge  of  the 
small  flock  in  Canton,  Ohio,  in  the  year  named,  1855.  Can- 
vassing the  town,  going  into  shops  and  homes,  he  presently 
saw  as  fruit  of  his  labor  a  gracious  revival  of  religion  and 
hundreds  added  to  this  church,  this  continuing  from  year  to 
year.  The  same  thing  occurred  at  Wooster,  Dayton,  Troy, 
and  Piqua,  where  he  subsequently  settled,  being  still  (1894) 
the  venerated  under-shepherd  at  the  last-named  place.  A 
gracious  ingathering  has  occurred  in  nearly  every  year  of  his 
labors,  and  the  secret  of  his  success  has  been,  as  with  so  many 
others  of  his  modest,  faithful  brethren  in  the  less  conspicuous 
fields,  preaching  and  visiting. 

Early  times  in  Granville,  Ohio,  have  had  some 
mention  on  a  former  page.  As  the  educational  and 
literary  center  of  the  State,  to  which  may  well  be 


170    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

added  its  "  beauty  for  situation,"  Granville  has  been 
a  point  of  attraction  second  to  none  in  the  West. 
Under  such  pastorates  as  those  of  Rev.  N.  S.  Burton, 
D.  D.,  W.  C. >.  Rhoades,  d.  d.,  and  Rev.  C.  J.  Bald- 
win, D.  D.,  who  is,  as  we  write,  the  able  incumbent 
and  thoughtful,  earnest  preacher,  its  pulpit  has  been 
no  less  a  landmark  in  the  Western  Baptist  ministry. 
At  Toledo  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  C.  D.  Morris,  d.  d., 
Avas  noticeable  for  its  steady  continuance  during  many 
years,  and  its  fruitfulness  in  the  upbuilding  of  the 
church  to  which  he  came  as  pastor  in  1867,  having 
entered  upon  it  as  his  first  charge  after  graduation  at 
Rochester.  A  native  of  Wales,  born  in  1839,  he  was 
at  first  a  Presbyterian,  but  becoming  a  Baptist  as  a 
result  of  independent  study  of  the  New  Testament, 
he  united  with  the  church  at  Urbana,  Ohio.  His 
death  in  the  very  meridian  of  his  usefulness  was  felt 
as  a  great  loss  to  the  denomination  in  Ohio,  where  he 
was  much  esteemed  for  his  manly  intelligence  as  well 
as  for  his  devotion  and  his  pulpit  and  pastoral  effi- 
ciency. 

As  we  come  to  Illinois,  we  find  a  church  organized 
at  Upper  Alton,  in  1830,  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  the  first 
in  that  part  of  the  State  with  the  exception  of  Ed- 
wardsville,  which  was  a  little  earlier.  For  two  years 
the  church  met  in  a  log  cabin,  its  first  house  of  wor- 
ship being  built  in  1837.  The  first  Sunday-school  in 
the  State  was  also  at  Upper  Alton,  Mr.  Peck  being 
the  chief  instrument  in  its  organization.  Of  pastors 
who  have  served  at  Upper  Alton,  during  the  long 


ON   THE   GENEEAL   FIELD  171 

period  since,  we  may  name  as  conspicuous,  Rev.  D.  T. 
Morrill,  d.  d.,  for  many  years  the  earnest,  ^eloquent, 
and  useful  incumbent,  and  the  present  pastor.  Rev. 
"William  Green,  now  (1895)  for  a  goodly  number  of 
years  in  charge.  Dr.  Morrill  came  to  Upper  Alton 
in  1876  from  the  pastorate  of  the  Park  Avenue  Bap- 
tist Church  in  St.  Louis,  having  previously  for  six 
years,  until  1874,  filled  the  same  position  at  the 
Fourth  Baptist  Church  in  that  city.  Fourteen  years 
had  previously  been  spent  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  with 
the  Fifth  Baptist  Church,  which  had  been  organized 
under  his  ministry.  His  course  of  study  he  had  re- 
ceived at  Union  College  and  at  Rochester,  graduating 
finally  in  1853.  A  vigorous,  earnest,  thoroughly 
evangelical  preacher,  his  service  was  always  fruitful 
in  conversions  and  in  church  upbuilding.  At  Upper 
Alton,  as  elsewhere,  it  was  highly  valued.  This  we 
may  also  say  of  the  minister  now  in  charge,  Rev.  W. 
Green. 

Two  years  later  than  at  Upper  Alton,  under  the 
labors  of  Rev.  Alvin  Bailey,  a  church  was  organized  at 
Alton  City,  celebrated  in  the  early  times  of  the  anti- 
slavery  agitation  as  the  home  of  Rev.  Elijah  Parish 
Lovejoy,  killed  in  1837  in  the  course  of  a  riot,  the 
purpose  of  which  was  the  destruction  of  the  office  in 
which  his  paper,  "  The  Alton  Observer,"  anti-slavery 
in  character,  was  printed. 

In  1882  occurred  the  semi-centennial  of  the  Alton 
Church.  The  occasion  was  made  the  more  an  inter- 
esting one  by  the  presence  of  Rev.  Melvin  Jameson, 


172    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

who  iu  1875,  after  a  pastorate  of  over  nine  years,  dating 
from  1866,  had  become  a  missionary  in  Burma,  but 
had  now  returned  for  restoration  of  health.  An  inter- 
esting historical  address  by  Mr.  Jameson  brought 
into  the  light  much  of  important  local  history.  The 
churcli  to  that  date,  1882,  had  been  served  by  eleven 
pastors,  including  the  then  present  one,  Rev.  L.  A. 
Abbott,  D.  D. ;  the  names  being  as  follows :  Alviu 
Bailey,  Ebenezer  Rogers,  Dwight  Ives,  afterward  so 
well  known  as  pastor  in  Suffield,  Conn.;  Gideon  B. 
Perry,  Otis  Hackett,  R.  F.  Ellis,  R.  R.  Coon,  Melviu 
Jameson,  Nathaniel  Butler,  T.  G.  Field,  L.  A.  Abbott. 
The  church  began  its  career  with  only  nineteen  mem- 
bers, but  with  names  upon  the  list  long  after  well 
known  and  influential  in  that  section  of  the  State, 
such  as  E.  Marsh,  Mark  Pierson,  Stephen  Griggs,  and 
other.s.  The  first  house  of  worship  was  built  during 
the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Ives,  1836-39.  We  find  it  said 
of  the  Alton  Church,  that  during  the  period  1860  to 
1880  it  had  contributed  to  various  forms  of  mission 
work  one  twenty-fourth  })art  of  the  amount  so  given 
by  the  entire  denomination  in  Illinois. 

Tlie  pastor,  at  the  date  of  this  history.  Rev.  L.  A. 
Abbott,  D.  D.,  came  to  the  charge  which  at  the  present 
date  he  has  held  during  some  fifteen  years,  from  La 
Crosse,  Wis.,  where  he  had  enjoyed  a  fruitful  pastor- 
ate of  seven  years,  with  a  previous  one  of  four  years 
at  Rochester,  Minn.  A  son  of  Massachusetts,  he  had 
like  so  many  other  New  England  youth  taken  early 
to  the  sea.     A  Christian  boy,  however,  having  been 


ON    THE    GEXErvAL    FIELD  173 

baptized  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  in  Beverly,  his  native 
town,  he  found  the  life  of  a  sailor  was  not  the  one  ap- 
pointed him.  His  education  preparatory  for  the  min- 
istry he  received  at  ^yorcester  Academy,  and  after  an 
interval  at  sea  for  restoration  of  health  by  failure  of 
which  his  studies  had  been  interrupted,  he  was  or- 
dained in  Medford,  Mass.,  and  after  service  there  and 
at  Middleborough,  being  iiouored  by  his  townsmen  in 
both  places  by  election  to  the  State  Legislature,  he 
canie  in  1868  to  the  West,  which  since  has  been  glad 
to  claim  him  for  its  own. 

Both  Alton  City  and  Upper  Alton  have  been  from 
the  beginniug  centers  of  denominational  influence  in 
Illinois ;  partly  l)ecause  of  the  location  at  the  latter  of 
what  was  the  only  Baptist  college  in  the  State,  and 
partly  because  of  the  zeal  and  ability  of  both  pastors 
and  laymen  there,  and  in  towns  more  or  less  adja- 
cent. While  the  great  river  remained  a  principal 
channel  of  commerce  and  travel,  towns  and  cities 
along  its  banks,  or  contiguous  to  it,  grew  rapidly  in 
population,  wealth,  and  influence.  Changes  intro- 
duced by  that  great  organ  of  revolution  in  State  and 
national  conditions,  the  railway,  have  in. some  degree 
affected  the  situation  in  the  particular  named,  at  least 
so  far  as  to  create  competition  at  points  farther  to  the 
east  and  north.  Yet  Quincy,  where  we  find  Rev. 
Ezra  Fisher  planting  a  church  in  1836,  and  Rock 
Island,  where  one  year  later,  in  1837,  a  church  was 
organized  in  the  cal)in  of  Lemuel  Ludden,  w'ith  a 
home  missionary  soon  upon  the  ground  in  the  person 


174    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

of  Rev.  C.  E.  Brown,  centers  of  population  and  in- 
fluence have  steadily  grown  up,  with  many  attractions 
in  locations  of  beauty  and  the  advantages  of  a  de- 
voted and  able  ministry  for  churches  responsive  to 
their  leadership. 

Churches  with  a  future  of  influence  and  evangel- 
ical power  before  them,  grew  up  at  points  more  in- 
land, in  Madison  and  Morgan  counties,  as  at  Carroll- 
ton,  Winchester,  Jerseyville,  Whitehall.  Alvin 
Bailey,  in  1833-34,  represented  the  Home  Mission 
Society  in  labor  from  Alton  to  Carrollton  ;  in  1843- 
47,  we  find  him  at  Jacksonville;  in  1847-48,  Rev. 
W.  F.  Boyakin  is  at  Jerseyville,  and  Justus  Bulkley 
in  1848-52  ;  Joel  Sweet  is  at  Whitehall,  Manches- 
ter, and  Big  Springs  in  1842,  serving  all  three — Rev. 
B.  B.  Hamilton  having  his  name  in  later  years  long 
identified  with  the  church  first  named  ;  Gardner  Bart- 
lett,  at  Winchester,  in  1832-33.  Alvin  Bailey,  Gard- 
ner Bartlett,  William  Spencer,  John  Logan,  writes 
Rev.  E.  S.  Walker,  of  Springfield,  "  became  as  house- 
hold names  at  many  a  fireside,  and  are  still  remem- 
bered by  older  Baptists  of  this  region,  as  devoted 
men  of  God  who  served  faithfully  and  well  in  lay- 
ing foundations."  To  the  names  so  mentioned  many 
others  might  be  added. 

Only  brief  mention  is  possible  to  us  of  the  earliest 
history  at  Canton,  with  I.  D.  Newell,  1841-43,  Alba 
Gross,  1844-46,  S.  G.  Miner,  1847-61,  D.  H.  Cooley, 
1871-79,  as  pastors;  or  of  its  later  history  under 
other  pastors,  conspicuously  the  long-continued  and 


ON   THE   GENERAL    FIELD  175 

in  many  ways  remarkable  service  of  Rev.  Charles 
Whitino-,  D.  D.  Dr.  Whitiuo-  is  remembered  at 
Quincy  for  a  fruitful  ministry  at  the  First  Church, 
and  especially  at  Canton,  where  his  work  and  his  life, 
in  the  year  1893,  came  to  a  close.  Mr.  Miner,  also, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-six,  in  the  same  year,  ended  at 
Bloominsfton  his  long  life  of  faithful  service.  To 
these  two  men  the  church  in  Canton  is  much  indebted 
for  a  prosperity  that  may  be  said  to  have  been  un- 
broken from  the  very  beginning  of  its  history. 

Galesburg  has  had,  during  some  of  the  most  prosper- 
ous years  of  its  history,  the  pastoral  service  of  Rev. 
Wm.  M.  Haigh,  terminating  in  1877,  when  he  became 
District  Secretary  of  the  Home  Mission  Society. 
Under  the  recent  pastorate  of  Rev.  O.  W.  Van  Osdel 
it  has  enjoyed  exceptional  prosperity,  crowned  in  the 
early  part  of  the  year  1894  with  the  completion  and 
dedication  of  its  present  noble  sanctuary.  The  rec- 
ord at  Decatur  opens  in  1847,  with  the  ministry  of 
Burton  B.  Carpenter,  followed  by  those  of  Charles 
H.  Gates,  Nelson  Alvord,  and  John  N.  Tolman ;  the 
last  named,  son  of  Rev.  J.  F.  Tolman,  especially 
honored  and  esteemed  among  Baptists  of  Illinois. 
In  late  years  the  briefer  service  of  Rev.  F.  G. 
Thearle,  shortened  by  failure  of  health,  and  later  the 
longer  and  brilliant  one  of  Rev.  G,  B.  Vosburgh, 
D.  D.,  have  conspicuous  record,  succeeded  by  that  of 
Rev.  C.  E.  Torrey,  whose  service  closed,  with  his  life, 
in  May,  1894,  almost  at  the  outset  of  what  promised 
to  be  a  career  of  brilliant  service. 


176    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

A  like  brief  record  must  content  us  of  the  history 
at  other  points ;  as  at  Bloomington,  where  I.  D. 
Newell  is  found  in  1836-40,  Lvman  Whitney,  1844- 
46,  and  later,  L.  L.  Lansing,  O.  B.  Stone,  C.  E. 
Hewitt,  D.  D.,  1868-76,  J.  L.  Jackson,  and  W.  B. 
Riley — the  last  now  a  vigorous  preacher  and  enter- 
prising pastor  in  Chicago,  and  Dr.  Jackson's  imme- 
diate successor  at  Bloomington.  Mr.  Riley  was  suc- 
ceeded, in  the  summer  of  1894,  by  Rev.  F.  C.  Win- 
bigler,  from  the  Pacific  coast.  At  Joliet  and  Lock- 
port,  F.  W.  Ingmire  was  pastor  in  1848-50,  J.  F. 
Ciiilds,  ]  853-54,^  W.  D.  Clark,  1854-56,  the  most 
recent  and  prosperous  ones  being  J.  \V.  Conley  and 
George  R.  Wood,  and  H.  J.  White  (in  a  church 
newly  organized) ;  at  .Aurora,  in  the  church  organ- 
ized about  1844,  W.  S.  Goodno  is  found  in  1851-52, 
I.  D.  Newell  in  1852-54,  Charles  Button,  E.  H. 
Brooks,  later ;  and  of  the  church  more  recently  or- 
ganized, the  Park  Place,  O.  O.  Fletcher  and  F.  Nel- 
son Glover. 

We  mention  also,  Belvidere,  where  a  fortieth  anni- 
versary was  celebrated  in  1876,  whose  first  house  of 
worship  had  been  built  in  1839,  its  second  in  1845, 
and  the  present  spacious  one  in  1868,  among  whose 
pastors  are  named  :  Prof.  S.  S.  Whitman,  one  of  the 
three  students  forming  the  first  class  at  Newton,  Dr. 
Barnas  Sears  being  another,  S.  A.  Estee  in  1848, 
Charles  H.  Roe  in  1851,  coming  from  England  with 
a  record  there  already  made  of  conspicuous  useful- 
ness at  Birmingham ;' H.  J.  Eddy,  1865-69,  N.  W. 


ON   THE   GENERAL   FIELD  177 

Miner,  and  at  present  tlie  efficient  pastor,  R.  S. 
Walker ;  Belvidere  with  a  prosperous  second  church 
on  the  south  side  of  the  river ;  Belvidere  which  gave 
to  the  American  Baptist  ministry  the  eloquent  preacher 
and  magnetic  leader,  Henry  C.  Mabie,  home  sec- 
retary of  the  Missionary  Union ;  then  Rockford, 
with  Warren  F.  Parrisii  as  perhaps  its  first  minister, 
Ichabod  Clark,  as  during  many  prosperous  years  a 
later  one,  W,  A.  Stanton,  ph.  d.,  C.  H.  Moscrip, 
D.  D.,  as  latest  of  all,  the  First  Church  being  in  more 
recent  times  cheered  by  the  presence  of  a  sister  church 
over  the  river,  with  J.  T.  Burhoeas  a  recent  and  R.  F. 
Y.  Pierce  as  a  present  pastor,  faithful  and  efficient 
men ;  Freeport,  to  which  John  P.  Parsons  came  in 
1843,  and  James  Schofield  in  1845,  T.  L.  Brecken- 
ridge  in  1851,  Thomas  Reese  in  1853,  which  has 
numbered  among  later  pastors  D.  H.  Cooley,  d.  d., 
and  Rev.  A.  W.  Fuller,  which  also  had  the  wise 
counsels  and  strong  support  in  its  membership  of 
Hon.  Joseph  M.  Bailey,  d.  d..  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Illinois  Supreme  Court ;  and  Galena,  with  W.  B. 
Morey,  Joel  Wheeler,  Otis  Hackett,  Lyman  Palmer, 
Asahel  Chapin,  and  F.  Ketcham  on  its  list  of  early 
pastors.  Elgin  we  mention  last ;  its  first  pastor  Rev. 
J.  E.  Ambrose,  its  second  A.  J.  Joslyn,  following 
whom  came,  among  others,  J.  W.  Parmly,  W.  L. 
Everett,  L.  M.  Woodruff,  d.  d.,  C.  K.  Colver,  D.  B. 
Cheney,  d.  d.,  George  C.  Vosburgh,  d.  d.,  with  Wal- 
ter M.  Walker,  now  in  charge.  A  recent  new  or- 
ganization, with  Rev.  E.  C.  Stover  as  pastor,  extended 

M 


178    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Baptist  efficiency  and  fruitfuluess  in  the  beautiful 
city,  wliose  population,  as  we  write,  is  reported  at 
twenty- five  thousand.  Among  laymen  long  influential 
and  honored  in  the  church  and  city,  we  name  E.  K.  W. 
Cornell,  J.  H.  Bosworth,  and  R.  W.  Padelford,  the 
last  named,  as  mentioned  on  an  earlier  page,  during 
full  forty  years  clerk  of  the  Chicago  Association. 

Among  centers  of  influence,  if  not  so  much  of  pop- 
ulation, in  Michigan,  Ann  Arbor,  next  after  Detroit, 
is  to  be  conspicuously  mentioned.  Upon  resigning 
his  pastorate  here  in  1888,  after  a  service  of  seven- 
teen years,  Dr.  Haskell,  in  his  sermon,  said  : 

The  letters  dismissing  from  the  church  in  Farmington  those 
who  organized  this  church  bore  date  May  10,  1828.  The 
members  were  Rev.  Moses  Clark,  Lucy  and  Sally  Clark, 
Elizabeth  and  Nancy  Brown,  Benjamin  Slocum,  Phebe  His- 
cock,  Charles  Stewart.  It  is  sixty  years  since  the  rootlet  vine 
was  thus  brought  here  and  planted.  It  is  fifty-six  years  since 
it  was  transplanted  from  the  farmhouse  of  the  pastor  on  the 
river  bank  below  us  to  this  village.  Brother  Daniel  R. 
Brown  and  wife  were  then  baptized,  and  the  same  day 
he  commenced  his  service  in  the  deacon's  ofiice,  which  he 
still  holds.  Doubtless  he  and  his  wife  are  the  only  sur- 
vivors of  the  little  membership.  The  pastors  who  followed 
Elder  Clark — who  by  some  old  settlers  is  believed  to  have 
conducted  the  first  religious  service  ever  held  in  Ann  Arbor, 
as  early  as  the  spring  of  182.5,  and  who,  I  think,  was  the  sec- 
ond ordained  Baptist  minister  in  Michigan — the  pastors  who 
followed  were  :  J.  S.  Twiss,  Harvey  Miller,  W.  L.  Brown, 
Allen  A.  Guernsey,  Oliver  Cromwell  Comstock,  Marvin 
Allen,  Andrew  Ten-Brook,  C.  Deland,  E.  S.  Dunham,  Sam- 
uel Graves,  M.  W.  Gunnison,  John  M.  Gregory,  A.  L. 
Freeman,  S.  Cornelius,  N.  S.  Burton,  S.  Haskell. 


ON   THE    GENERAL    FIELD  179 

The  pastorate  of  Dr.  Haskell,  as  we  said,  bad  lasted 
during  seventeen  years  from  1871,  when  it  began. 
The  latest  pastorate,  recently  closed  at  the  date  of  this 
writing,  that  of  Rev.  A.  S.  Carman,  worthily  con- 
tinued the  history  which  records  names  so  honorable. 
Of  those  given  in  the  list  by  Dr.  Haskell,  Dr.  O.  C. 
Comstock  was  complimented  by  the  people  of  his  dis- 
trict in  an  election  to  Congress.  Dr.  Gregory's  name 
has  been  deservedly  an  honored  one  in  the  educational 
history  of  Michigan  and  Hlinois ;  and  Dr.  N.  S. 
Burton  has  a  record  in  Ohio  as  pastor  for  some  seven 
or  eight  years  of  the  church  in  Granville  in  that  State, 
and  active  in  educational  matters  there,  later  well 
known  in  eastern  States,  alike  as  pastor  and  as  author. 
Mr.  Carman  came  worthily  into  this  succession,  filling 
the  position  ably  for  several  years,  and  adding  to  his 
reputation  as  pastor  and  preacher  that  of  superior 
culture  and  a  genial  Christian  manhood. 

Dr.  Haskell  came  to  Ann  Arbor  from  Kalamazoo. 
In  a  sermon  on  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  a  new 
house  of  worship  by  the  Baptist  church  in  that  city, 
June  18,  1871,  and  afterward  printed,  we  find  him 
saying : 

It  is  now  just  forty  years  since  Thomas  W.  Merrill  came 
from  the  eastern  part  of  this  State,  where  he  had  spent  the 
preceding  year  mostly  in  teaching  a  select  school  at  Ann 
Arbor,  and  commenced  his  efforts  to  plant  a  Baptist  church 
and  a  Baptist  institution  of  learning  in  this  county.  A  single 
log  cabin  was  then  the  only  prophecy  of  Kalamazoo.  The 
first  church  formed  in  that  part  of  Michigan  was  at  Gales- 
burg.     From  that  church  came  some  of  the  members  who 


180   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

joined  in  organizing  this  one  in  Kalamazoo,  the  organization 
being  made  in  1835. 

Of  pastors  serving  the  church  from  that  time  for- 
ward are  mentioned  Rev.  Jeremiah  Hall,  who  had 
come  to  Michigan  from  Townsend,  Vt.,  in  his  later 
life  pastor  at  Norwalk  and  Granville,  Ohio,  becom- 
ing, in  1853,  president  of  Granville  College,  the  name 
of  the  college  being  changed  during  his  presidency  to 
Denison  University.  Dr.  Hall  was  succeeded  by  Dr. 
J.  A.  B.  Stone,  following  whom  came  W.  L.  Eaton, 
Edward  Anderson,  Dr.  M.  G.  Hodge,  and  Dr.  Samuel 
Haskell. 

Familiar  names  are  noted  at  Grand  Rapids  between 
the  years  1842  and  1860— T.  Z.  R.  Jones,  Charles  A. 
Jenison,  A.  J=  Bingham,  L.  F.  Holt.  In  1870,  Rev. 
Samuel  Graves,  who  had  resigned  his  professorship 
at  Kalamazoo,  became  the  pastor,  continuing  some 
twelve  years  until  called  into  educational  service  of 
tlie  Home  Mission  Society  at  Atlanta,  Ga.  During 
this  pastorate  the  prosperity  began,  in  course  of  which 
a  spacious  and  attractive  house  of  worship  was  built, 
and  which,  under  the  subsequent  pastorates  of  Rev. 
Kerr  B.  Tupper  and  Rev.  J.  L.  Jackson,  has  made 
Grand  Rapids  a  representative  instance  of  Western 
Baptist  progress.  The  one  church,  now  Fountain 
Street,  has  grown  to  five,  and  the  few  who  composed 
the  original  organization  to  a  total  membership  in  all 
the  churches  of  some  one  thousand  five  hundred. 

For  Ypsilanti  we  find  a  record  beginning  with 
Rev.  John  Mitchell  as  missionary  pastor^  1841-42; 


ON   THE   GENERAL    FIELD  181 

followed  by  Lyman  H.  Moore,  1843-48.  In  later 
years  we  note  the  fruitful  pastorates  of  Rev.  C.  E. 
Hewitt,  Rev.  J.  S.  Boyden,  during  seven  years,  with 
one  hundred  ;ind  sixty -three  persons  baptized  here 
and  at  Franklin,  Ind.,  where  he  had  spent  a  year,  and 
Rev.  J.  Loren  Cheney,  son  of  the  late  Dr.  D.  B. 
Cheney ;  the  two  first  named,  Messrs  Hewitt  and 
Boyden,  in  after  years  rendering  valuable  service  in 
promoting  the  financial  interest  of  schools  of  learning 
— Mr.  Boyden  at  Kalamazoo  and  Dr.  Hewitt  at 
Chicago.  Rev.  J.  L.  Cheney,  the  scholarly  and 
amiable  young  minister  has,  as  we  write,  recently 
closed  a  pastorate  of  some  years  at  this  church,  with, 
as  his  numerous  friends  hope,  many  years  yet  before 
him  of  good  service  in  other  fields,  a  like  earnest  hope 
being  cherished,  for  their  father's  sake  and  their  own, 
for  his  brother,  Rev.  D.  B.  Cheney,  on  his  great  field 
at  West  Superior,  Wis.  At  Lansing,  the  State  capital, 
we  find  the  Home  Mission  Society  giving  aid  in  the 
support  of  Rev.  P.  C.  Dayfoot,  1852-54 ;  Lyman  H. 
Moore,  1857-59;  George'  H.  Hickox,  1866-68.  In 
subsequent  years  Rev.  E.  H.  E.  Jameson,  D.  d.,  came 
to  them  after  many  years  of  good  service  in  Omaha, 
Neb.,  to  be  followed  at  Lansing,  upon  becoming  dis- 
trict secretary  of  the  Home  Mission  Society,  by  Rev. 
L.  D.  Temple,  a  graduate  at  Morgan  Park,  and  who 
had  made  a  good  record  as  pastor  near  Chicago  and 
in  New  York  City.  Mr.  Temple  has  recently  re- 
signed, and  is  at  this  writing  (1895)  pastor  at  Brattle- 
boro,  Yt. 


182    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

If  we  pass  to  Wisconsin  and  to  its  State  capital,  we 
find  there  as  bearing  commissions  of  the  Home  Mis- 
sion Society,  H.  W.  Read,  in  1847-49;  John  Wil- 
liams, with  one-half  of  his  time  given  to  Iowa,  1849- 
50;  S.  S.  Whitman,  1851  ;  M.  D.  Miller,  1853-55; 
W.  E.  Brooks,  1856-58  ;  AV.  H.  Brisbane,  1860-61  ; 
Thos.  Bright,  1875-76.  For  later  record  we  have 
Rev.  J.  C.  C.  Clarke,  and  as  lately  resigning,  after  an 
able  ministry  of  several  years,  Rev.  A.  L.  Wilkinson, 
D.  D.  Racine  enrolls  npon  its  list  of  early  pastors, 
following  Rev.  Spencer  Carr,  with  whom  the  church 
began,  Silas  Tucker,  1845-48  ;  William  Rollinson, 
1849-50.  Later  it  had  the  ministry  of  Rev.  O.  O. 
Stearns,  later  still  of  Rev.  W.  B.  Cullis,  and  as  we 
write  that  of  Rev.  David  Spencer,  d.  d.,  recently 
closed. 

Much  of  the  church  planting  in  Wisconsin  has 
called  for  notice  in  other  connections.  Mr.  Delany 
has  noted  the  first  beginnings  of  church  organization 
at  Janesville,  with  mention  of  the  brilliant  pastorates 
of  E.  J,  Goodspeed  and  Galusha  Anderson.  Rev. 
M.  G.  Hodge,  d.  d.,  the  pastor  as  we  write,  has  been 
twice  in  service  there.  The  first  of  these  terms  of 
service  began  Feb.  1,  1865,  and  closed  Sept.  ],  1871. 
His  present  pastorate,  which  has  now  lasted  thirteen 
years,  began  May  1,  1881.  In  1867-68,  under  his 
first  pastorate,  a  fine  house  of  worship,  the  best  in  the 
State,  was  built,  with  a  seating  ca[)acity  of  one  thou- 
sand. On  Jan.  13,  1885,  in  the  third  year  after  the 
second  pastorate  began,  this  house  was  burned.     The 


ON    THE    GENERAL    FIELD  183 

church  at  once  began  to  rebuild,  and  in  August,  1885, 
dedicated  its  present  beautiful  house  free  of  debt. 
The  church  in  1894  had  a  membership  of  three 
hundred  and  seventy.  The  ministry  of  Dr.  Hodge 
liad  its  earliest  beginning  in  Vermont,  his  ordination 
occurring  at  Charleston,  in  that  State,  in  1843.  Pas- 
torates followed,  as  the  years  went  by,  at  Colchester 
and  Hinesburg,  Vt. ;  Stillwater  and  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ; 
Kalamazoo,  Mich. ;  Beaver  Dam,  Janesville,  and  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.  No  man  in  the  American  Baptist 
ministry  has  more  commanded  the  respect  of  his 
brethren,  the  warm  attachment  of  the  churches  served, 
or  has  been  more  cheerfully  trusted  and  followed  as  a 
leader  within  the  immediate  sphere  of  his  service  on 
special  fields.  Pastors  in  later  years,  besides  Dr. 
Hodge,  serving  at  Janesville,  have  been  O.  J.  Dear- 
born, W.  H.  Douglass,  F.  W.  Bakeman,  J.  P.  Bates, 
W.  S.  Koberts,  F.  L.  Chapell. 

A  record  like  this  which  we  make  in  the  present 
chapter  is  necessarily  imperfect.  Something  to  a  like 
purpose,  though  more  in  the  nature  of  a  general  sum- 
mary, may  come  in  order  later  in  this  iiistory.  The 
amount  of  detail  here  attempted  has  had  for  its  pur- 
pose the  giving  of  some  indication  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  field  in  these  great  States  has  been  taken 
and  occupied  during  the  century  and  more  since,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  Baptists  began  to  have  a  name 
and  a  place. 


CHAPTER  IX 

HOME   AND   FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

SO  much  as  appears  in  a  formei*  chapter  it  has 
seemed  necessary  to  say  of  a  phase  in  our  de- 
nominational history  whicli  antedates  the  missionary 
activity  of  more  recent  times.  Interest  in  missions, 
variously  organized  at  home  and  abroad,  is  so  much 
a  matter  of  course  now  that  it  might  seem  no  violent 
inference  that  it  liad  always  been  so ;  nor  is  it  easy 
now  to  quite  get  the  point  of  view  of  those  who  once 
were  so  vigorous  in  their  opposition.  Besides,  the 
anti-mission  attitude  was  clearly  one  aspect  of  doc- 
trinal history  among  Baptists,  grounding  itself,  as 
we  have  seen,  in  extreme  views  upon  matters  of 
faith  fundamental,  and  in  their  general  statement 
accepted  by  us  all,  yet  susceptible  of  modifications 
in  either  direction  which  become  divisive  in  their 
result. 

The  missionary  spirit,  however,  as  has  abundantly 
appeared  in  this  lecord  of  early  times,  was  active 
among  those  who  led  the  way  in  the  occupancy  of  the 
Western  field.  Very  naturally,  its  first  direction  was 
toward  those  Indian  tribes  then  still  found  in  their 
old  localities,  whose  condition  made  such  a  strong 
appeal  to  Christian  sympathy  and  sense  of  obligation. 
184 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  185 

"We  have  seen  that  Dr.  J.  M.  Peck's  original  desire 
was  to  become  a  missionary  to  the  Indians.  Other 
claims  interfered,  and  tnrned  his  thought  and  his 
main  interest  in  other  directions ;  yet  what  is  written 
of  him  shows  how  difficult  it  must  have  been  for 
earnest  Christian  men  to  look  without  deep  con- 
cern upon  tlie  condition  of  those  original  occupants 
of  a  soil  soon  to  be  claimed  in  the  interest  of  civili- 
zation, for  whom  even  the  light  of  nature  was  but 
darkness. 

Of  Isaac  McCoy,  in  this  connection,  we  have 
already  spoken,  with  some  account  also  of  his  earlier 
life,  and  the  beginning  of  his  ministry.  It  was  in 
1818,  that  Mr.  McCoy  received  an  appointment  from 
the  Baptist  Triennial  Convention  as  a  missionary  to 
the  Indians.  The  Indian  hostilities  which  accom- 
panied the  war  of  1812  with  Great  Britain  had  been 
quieted,  and  access  to  the  tribes  had  now  become 
comparatively  easy.  Mr.  McCoy  began  his  labors 
among  them  in  a  mission  upon  Kaccoon  Creek,  in 
Indiana,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  wilderness.  After 
two  years  he  removed  to  Fort  Wayne,  and  there,  in 
1821,  organized  a  small  church  "consisting,"  it  is 
said,  "  of  eight  missionaries,  one  colored  man,  and  two 
converted  half-breed  Indian  women."  Believing  that 
better  access  to  the  tribes  could  be  found  farther  west, 
he  removed  in  the  autumn  of  1821  to  a  point  on  the 
St.  Joseph  River,  near  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Niles,  in  Michigan,  This  station,  among  the  Potta- 
watomie tribe  of  Indians,  was  named  by  him  the 


186    niSTOEY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Carey  Mission,  as  another  among  the  Ottawps  farther 
north  was  named  the  Thomas  Mission,  after  another, 
Dr.  John  Thomas,  of  those  by  whom  Baptist  missions 
on  the  other  side  of  the  world  had  been  originated. 

In  his  work  among  the  Indians,  Mr.  McCoy  expe- 
rienced much  embarrassment  and  hindrance  through 
their  contact  with  people  in  the  white  settlements. 
It  was  partly,  no  doubt,  in  consequence  of  this  that 
he  interested  himself  so  actively  in  securing  from 
Congress  its  first  appropriation  of  public  lands  as  an 
Indian  Reservation.  To  such  a  Reservation,  in  what 
is  now  the  State  of  Kansas,  he  removed  in  1829,  and 
here  continued  his  self-denying  labor  until  1842, 
when,  having  been  chosen  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  Indian  Mission  Association,  a  new  organiza- 
tion, having  its  iieadqnarters  at  Louisville,  Kentucky, 
he  removed  to  that  city,  and  there  had  his  home  until 
his  death  in  1846,  consequent  upon  severe  exposure 
in  returning  from  a  preaching  engagement  at  Jeffer- 
sonville,  Indiana. 

Something  has  already  been  said  of  Mr.  McCoy's 
marked  characteristics.  It  should  be  remembered  of 
him  that  he  was  much  more  than  simply  a  missionary. 
While  earnest  and  devoted  in  the  more  direct  labor 
as  such,  his  thoughts  and  sympathies  were  occupied 
with  large  views  and  plans  as  to  the  general  condition 
of  Indian  tribes  in  the  West.  He  also  wrote  much 
upon  the  subject,  one  volume,  an  octavo  of  some  six 
hundred  pages,  being  completed  and  published  by 
him  not  long  before  his  death.     Considerable  time 


nOME   A^D    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  187 

was  spent  by  him  at  Wasliiugton,  using  his  influence 
with  members  of  Congress  to  secure  the  appropriation 
of  public  lands  before  mentioned,  and  for  other  pur- 
poses connected  witli  the  general  welfare  of  the  tribes. 
Mr.  Joseph  Chambers  says:^ 

That  -whicli  more  than  anything  else  must  form  the  endur- 
ing memorial  of  3Ir.  McCoy,  is  what  he  did  and  suffered  for 
the  red  ouan.  He  labored  for  him  during  a  large  part  of  his 
ministry  with  an  intensity  that  nothing  could  abate  ;  and  he 
has  left  a  mark  on  the  destiny  of  that  unfortunate  people 
which  time  cannot  eftace.  Well  do  I  remember  going  by 
request  to  his  house,  to  join  with  him  in  prayer  just  before 
his  removal  into  the  Indian  Territory.  A  few  years  before 
we  had  both  been  defending  ourselves  and  our  families  with 
our  rifles  against  the  invasion  of  the  Indians,  and  now  he  was 
going  to  plant  himself  down  among  them  with  his  wife  and 
seven  small  children,  in  the  hope  of  becoming  the  instrument 
of  their  salvation. 

It  is  proper  to  say  that  owing  to  his  active  concern 
in  general  measures  for  tlie  benefit  of  the  Indians, 
Mr.  McCoy  was  necessarily  often  turned  aside  from 
more  direct  missionary  work,  with  frequent  absence 
from  the  stations  occupied  by  bim.  Out  of  this  grew 
some  apparent  occasion  of  criticism,  with  official 
inquiry  by  the  Board  of  the  Triennial  Cons'ention 
under  whose  appointment  he  labored  in  the  earlier 
years  of  his  service.  Dr.  Spencer  H.  Cone,  of  New 
York,  an  influential  member  of  that  Board,  much 
befriended  him,  justifying  his  course,  and  securing  in 
the  result  complete  vindication. 
1  In  Sprague's  "  Annals  of  the  American  Baptist  Pulpit,"  p.  645. 


188    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

An  indirect  fruit  of  the  missionary  labors  of  Mr. 
McCoy  while  at  the  Carey  Mission  on  the  St,  Joseph 
River,  may  have  been  the  Brothertown  Indian  Bap- 
tist Church,  which  came  in  a  body  into  the  territory 
of  Wisconsin  in  1828  ;  though  perhaps  more  directly 
a  fruit  of  the  mission  later  at  Grand  Rapids.  This 
was  really  the  first  Baptist  church  in  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Wisconsin.  Its  location,  Brothertown,  was 
at  Calumet,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Winnebago. 
An  Indian  pastor  came  with  the  little  band,  bearing 
the  name  of  Dick,  spoken  of  as  "  a  most  excellent 
man  and  preacher,  and  a  decided  Calvinist."  His 
wife  had  been  educated  in  the  family  of  Prof.  Daniel 
Hascall,  of  Hamilton  Literary  and  Theological  In- 
stitute. After  Mr.  Dick's  death'  the  church  had  no 
pastor,  and  though  its  meetings,  especially  its  cove- 
nant meetings,  were  maintained  until  1841,  it  finally 
became  extinct. 

Concerning  work  among  the  Indians  in  Michigan 
a  further  record  remains.  "  Some  successful  work," 
says  Dr.  Samuel  Haskell,^  "  was  done  in  schools,  a 
few  conversions  at  the  Carey  Mission  are  mentioned, 
and  six  young  Indians  were  sent  to  Hamilton  and 
two  to  Vermont  for  education."  No  church  organiza- 
tion at  the  Carey  Mission  evidently  is  reported.  A 
mission  distinct  from  that  of  Mr.  INIcCoy  appears  to 
have  been  established  at  Grand  Rapids.  Here  more 
results  of  labors  appeared.  "In  the  spring  of  1832 
many  improvements  had  been  made,  a  house  of  wor- 
1  "Fifty  Years  of  Michigan  Baptist  History." 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  189 

ship  erected,  whose  '  church-going  bell '  was  the  first 
one  with  a  Baptist  tongue  in  Michigan,  and  the  chief, 
Noon-day,  with  a  number  of  his  people  were  asking 
baptism."  As  Rev.  Leonard  Slater,  the  missionary 
at  that  point,  was  a  licentiate.  Rev.  Elkanali  Com- 
stock,  at  Pontiac,  w^as  sent  for  to  administer  the  ordi- 
nance. He  was  accompanied  by  Rev.  John  Booth, 
another  devoted  Baptist  pioneer.  "  They  went  by 
Jackson  and  Marshall,  at  each  of  which  there  were 
two  log  dwellings  and  beyond  these  places  there  were 
no  roads,  bridges,  or  inhabitants,  except  a  Baptist 
family  near  Battle  Creek,  and  a  few  families  on  Gull 
Prairie.  From  this  point  and  back  to  their  homes  by 
the  Shiawassee  trail,  they  traversed  an  unbroken 
forest,  swimming  their  horses  through  the  Grand 
River  several  times,  and  kindling  a  fire  and  lying 
down  wherever  night  overtook  them."  Their  visit  to 
the  mission  at  Grand  Rapids  appears  to  have  resulted 
in  the  organization  of  an  Indian  Baptist  churcli, 
with  twenty-four  members.  Through  the  influence 
of  Chief  Noon-day  a  temperance  society  among  these 
Indians  was  organized,  with  the  following  pledge : 
*'  We  say  we  will  stop  using  this  whisky  ;  we  will  not 
suffer  it  to  come  into  our  houses :  we,  who  have  set 
our  names  to  this,  will  meet  in  a  house  to  remember 
and  talk  of  what  we  have  said  to  God.  We  will  not 
lie  to  God."  "  The  names  of  forty  Indians,"  says 
Dr.  Haskell,  "  were  written  under  this  pledge,  and 
each  of  them  shook  the  pen  opposite  to  his  name,  thus 
recognizino:  the  sigrnature  as  his  own." 


190    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Mr.  Slater  appears  to  have  been,  in  his  zeal  as  a 
missionary  among  the  Indians,  like-minded  with 
Isaac  McCoy.  AVhen,  in  1830,  the  Indians  in  Mich- 
igan were  removed  by  order  of  the  government,  he 
obtained  permission  for  those  whom  he  had  gathered  in 
the  church  at  Grand  Rapids  to  remain  in  the  State. 
A  settlement  was  formed  near  Kalamazoo,  and  a 
church  and  school  there  maintained  for  some  fifteen 
years.  The  settlement,  however,  declined  and  the 
station  was  ultimately  abandoned.  Mr.  Slater  was 
active  also  in  lal)ors  among  the  colored  people  of 
Kalamazoo.  In  the  time  of  the  civil  war  he  contracted 
a  disease  while  laboring  in  army  hospitals  in  the  South, 
and  there  ended  his  useful  career.  "  Bury  me,"  were 
his  last  words,  "  by  the  Kalamazoo,  on  the  spot  where 
I  spread  my  tent  and  slept  by  the  Indian  Trading 
Post  on  the  first  night  of  my  coming  to  the  station  ; 
and  let  the  dust  of  my  buried  wife  be  brought  and 
laid  by  my  side." 

Other  missions  were  established  in  other  parts  of 
Michigan ;  one  by  Rev.  Abel  Bingham  at  Sault  Ste. 
Marie,  in  1828,  and  a  church  of  six  members  organ- 
ized in  1830,  increasing  to  fifty  by  the  year  1833, 
with  several  "  soldier  members"  included.  The  dis- 
appearance of  the  Indian  tribes  through  various  causes, 
more  especially  their  removal  by  government  to  the 
farther  West,  has  left  all  this,  however,  as  simply  a 
passing  record,  though  a  deeply  interesting  one,  in 
the  annals  of  Indiana,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  Bap- 
tists. 


HOME    AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  IDl 

As  we  turn  now  to  consider  the  subject  of  co-opera- 
tion by  Western  Baptists  in  home  and  foreign  missions 
upon  a  larger  scale,  we  have  to  notice,  first  of  all,  the 
manner  in  which  active  engagedness  in  these  direc- 
tions, as  well  as  in  mission  work  more  local  in  char- 
acter, was  weakened  and  hindered  by  divisions  of  the 
same  kind  as  were  having  a  like  effect  both  in  the 
East  and  the  South.  We  have  already  made  mention 
of  the  causes  of  such  division,  but  must  here  notice 
them  more  in  detail. 

It  was  not  so  much  conflict  of  opinion  as  to  the 
institution  of  slavery  itself,  which  had  the  effect 
spoken  of.  Among  Northern  and  Western  Baptists 
the  general  judgment  as  to  the  character  of  that  insti- 
tution and  the  necessity  for  its  abolition  was  much 
the  same  for  all ;  the  points  of  difference,  radical  in 
their  nature  in  spite  of  any  fundamental  agreement  as 
to  the  general  view,  concerned  methods  of  dealing 
with  the  evil,  and  the  question  of  complicity  with  it 
through  association  with  slaveholders  in  home  and 
foreign  missions  and  in  other  ways.  The  South,  in 
these  particulars,  was  quite  as  much  at  issue  with  the 
North  as  the  North  with  itself  in  its  own  domestic 
differences,  the  result  being  a  complication  the  effect 
of  which  was  felt  in  all  departments  of  missionary 
activity. 

Into  details  more  than  very  general  of  this  impor- 
tant passage  in  the  history  of  American  Baptist  mis- 
sions we  cannot  enter.  That  will  pei4iaps  be  more 
appropriate  for  notice  in  some  other  volume  of  the 


192    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

series  to  which  our  own  belongs.  Besides  the  ques- 
tion already  noticed,  that  of  complicity  with  what 
was  regarded  as  the  sin  of  slaveholding,  there  was 
another  having  respect  to  the  proper  constitution  of  a 
missionary  society.  The  third  article  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union, 
organized  at  Boston  in  1845,  was  as  follows  :  "  This 
Union  shall  be  composed  of  life-members.  All  the 
members  of  the  Baptist  General  (Triennial)  Con- 
vention who  may  be  present  at  the  adoption  of  this 
constitution^  shall  be  members  for  life  of  the  Union. 
Other  persons  may  be  constituted  life- members  by  the 
payment  at  one  time  of  not  less  than  one  hundred 
dollars." 

The  points  of  fundamental  diiference  between  the 
supporters  of  the  Missionary  Union  and  those  of  the 
American  Baptist  Free  Mission  Society,  organized  in 
the  Tremont  Chapel,  Boston,  in  May,  1843,  were 
these  two,  that  of  co-operation  with  slaveholders  in 
the  prosecution  of  missions,  at  home  or  abroad,  and 
the  recognition  of  a  principle  of  representation  in  the 
constitution  of  a  missionary  society ;  it  being  claimed 
on  the  one  hand  that  organization  upon  a  basis  of  life- 
membership  only,  implied  an  exclusion  of  tli£  princi- 
ple of  representation,  while  upon  the  other  it  was 
argued  that  the  only  safe  recognition  of  such  a  princi- 
ple in  the  constitution  of  a  missionary  society  is  the 
qualified  one  seen  in  a  life- membership  constituency. 
It  is  proper  to  add  here,  that  at  a  later  time,  when 
this  whole  controversy  had   become  a  thing  of  the 


HOME    AND    FOKEIGN    MISSIONS  193 

past,  the  constitution  of  the  Missionary  Union  was  so 
changed  as  to  admit  of  representation  in  the  form  of 
delegates  from  churches,  and  in  other  wavs. 

This  brief  mention  of  matters  in  debate  at  the  date 
here  in  view,  is  made  necessary  by  the  fact  that  the 
Free  Mission  agitation  was  so  much  a  factor  in  this 
history  during  many  years  on  tlie  field  of  our  present 
survey,  and  the  fact  also  that  the  issues  above  noted 
were  debated  in  the  West  no  less  actively  than  in  the 
East.  The  Western  center  of  the  Free  Mission  move- 
ment, for  a  considerable  time  at  least,  was  Elo-in,  Illi- 
nois,  where  the  Western  oi-gan  of  its  promoters,  "  The 
Western  Christian,"  was  published  under  the  edi- 
torship of  Kev.  Warham  Walker.  Mr.  Walker  was 
a  pastor  in  Homer,  New  Yort,  when  the  questions 
indicated  above  began  to  attract  attention.  His  views 
he  gave  to  the  public  in  the  form  of  a  paper,  "  The 
Advocate,"  which  was  announced  as  intended  for  con- 
tinued publication  should  that  be  warranted,  but 
which  reached  only  a  second  number,  the  opening  for 
a  like  enterprise  in  the  West  calling  him  thither. 
Mr.  Walker  argued  the  questions  referred  to,  from  his 
own  point  of  view,  with  decided  ability,  and  with  a 
moderation  of  tone,  considering  the  degree  of  agi- 
tation all  around  him,  which  lent  much  force  to  his 
advocacy.  '*  The  Western  Christian,"  founded  in  18-15, 
by  a  joint  stock  company,  in  which  Rev.  A.  J.  Joslyn, 
Rev.  J.  E.  Ambrose,  and  Rev.  Spencer  Carr  of 
Racine,  shared,  was  sustained  during  some  six  years, 
and    gained   a   considerable   circulation  both  in  the 

N 


l94   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WfiSTEllN  STATED 

West  and  in  the  East.  The  Free  Mission  sentiment 
on  the  field  of  its  circulation  grew  in  intensity,  and 
mixed  itself  with  almost  all  forms  of  organization  for 
Christian  work.  In  1846  the  Free  Mission  Conven- 
tion in  Wisconsin  was  organized  at  Spring  Prairie, 
in  that  State.  The  influence  of  the  agitation  was  felt 
in  each  of  the  other  States,  mainly  through  efforts 
made  in  meetings  of  local  Associations  and  in  State 
Conventions  to  secure  recognition  of  principles  repre- 
sentative of  the  Free  Mission  position,  as  regards  fel- 
lowship with  slaveholders,  and  missionary  policy  in 
general. 

The  division  extended  to  home  missions  as  well  as 
foreign  missions.  The  withdrawal  of  Southern  Bap- 
tists from  co-operation  with  those  of  the  North, 
involved  separation  in  home  missions,  and  also 
brought  into  that  organization  dividing  questions  of  a 
similar  character.  As  a  result,  those  identified  with 
the  Free  Mission  movement  stood  aloof  here  also. 

It  is  no  part  of  our  purpose  in  recalling  these  chap- 
ters in  missionary  history  to  revive  issues  long  buried, 
as  far  as  any  discussion  of  them  upon  their  merits  is 
concerned.  These  discussions,  however,  enter  so 
largely  into  the  earlier  history  of  Western  Baptists, 
in  their  relation  to  Christian  enterprise  upon  a  wide 
scale,  that  it  was  impossible  to  pass  them  by.  Other 
grounds  of  difference  appeared  later  in  connection 
with  the  work  of  Bible  distribution.  We  cannot  stop 
to  give  any  detailed  account  of  the  rising  into  promi- 
nence of  the  question  of  Bible  revision,  the  organiza- 


HOME   AND   FOREIGN   MISSIONS  195 

tion  of  the  American  Bible  Union  in  1850,  and  the 
sharp  controversy  between  its  supporters  and  those 
of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  upon 
the  question  of  revision.  Western  men  entered  into 
these  discussions  with  much  zeal,  the  work  of  revi- 
sion under  the  auspices  of  the  new  society  appealing 
strongly  to  the  pronounced  Baptist  convictions  and 
sentiment,  always  quite  characteristic  of  Western 
churches  and  their  ministry.  In  the  end,  as  is  well 
known,  the  general  principle  advocated  by  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Union  prevailed,  finding  emphatic  endorse- 
ment in  the  Revised  version  by  British  and  Ameri- 
can scholars  published  in  1880,  and  in  the  action  of 
the  Saratoga  Baptist  Bible  Convention  in  1883. 

It  is,  as  is  often  remarked,  chiefly  in  times  of  agi- 
tation and  disturbance  that  material  for  history  is 
supplied.  The  period  whose  more  stirring  events 
have  occupied  us  in  foregoing  pages,  has  been  followed 
by  a  period  of  quiet  and  orderly  progress  under 
methods  commanding  united  support,  and  with  results 
such  as  union  of  counsel  and  endeavor  is  wont  to 
bring.  The  issue  of  the  war  between  the  States  put 
an  end  to  slavery  and  to  those  causes  of  division 
growing  out  of  it,  whose  effects  were  felt  in  so  many 
ways.  These  and  other  questions  in  debate  having 
left  the  field,  there  was  room  and  opportunity  for 
devising  better  methods  of  procedure  in  that  work  of 
missions  which  now  came  to  the  front  as  in  so  many 
ways  having  superior  claims. 

To  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society 


196    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Western  Baptists  have  been  ever  glad  to  confess  a 
large  indebtedness.  Those  upon  the  field,  in  contact 
with  its  difficulties  and  sensible  of  limitation  in 
resources,  necessarily  crippling  and  discouraging, 
have  not  failed  to  recognize  the  relief  and  the  inspira- 
tion supplied  in  the  consciousness  of  active  sympathy 
on  the  part  of  their  brethren  in  the  older  States. 
The  society  in  its  own  operations  has  proceeded  upon 
the  wise  principle  of  stimulating,  as  well  as  aiding 
endeavor.  Self-help,  it  has  been  realized,  is  after  all 
the  best  kind  of  help.  Thus  the  society,  in  the  aid 
it  has  given,  has  rendered  a  double  service.  Many  a 
struggling  church  has  been  by  its  means  lifted  into 
comparative  independence,  and  yet  in  the  process  of 
such  relief  has  found  its  self-respect  encouraged  and 
its  own  spirit  of  enterprise  stimulated. 

Examples  of  the  service  rendered  in  the  West  by 
the  Home  Mission  Society  may  be  found  simply  in 
an  enumeration  of  central  points  first  occupied  either 
through  its  means  or  by  its  aid.  Churches  now  in 
large  cities  and  towns,  and  which  for  more  than  a 
generation,  perhaps  even  half  a  century,  have  found 
no  occasion  to  ask  for  aid  in  any  quarter,  save  from 
above,  may  not  be  in  the  habit  of  recalling  what  was 
true  of  them  in  the  time  of  their  beginning,  and 
when  the  very  place  of  their  location  was  similar  to 
that  which  some  crude  town  upon  the  frontier  now  is. 
The  first  two  pastors  in  Chicago,  A.  B.  Freeman  and 
Isaac  T.  Hinton,  were  aided  in  their  support  from 
Home  Mission  funds ;  the  now  powerful  and  prosper- 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN   MISSIONS  197 

ous  First  Church  being  in  a  true  sense  the  child  of  the 
society.     When  Rev.  J.  L.  llichniond,  in  1833,  came 
to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  he  came  with  the  promise  of  aid 
from  the  same  source.     Both  T.  R.  Cressy  and  D.  B. 
Cheney  were  aided  by  the  society  in  laying  founda- 
tions  at   Columbus,  in   the  same  State.     The  First 
Church,    Cincinnati,    sustained    its    pastor,    Daniel 
ShepJiardson,  in  the  first  year  of  service,   1847-48, 
with  like  aid.     At  Indianapolis,  as  bearing  the  com- 
mission  of  the  society,  we  find   Ezra  Fisiier,  T.  R. 
Cressy,  Sidney  Dyer,  at  dates  varying  from  1832  to 
1853.     In  Detroit,  a  like  record  appears  of  such  early 
pastors    as   Robert   Turnbull,    1834-36  ;   Oliver   C. 
Comstock,  1838-40;  Andrew  Ten-Brook,  1841-44 ; 
James  Inglis,  1844-45 ;  Samuel  H.  Davis,  1847-48. 
For  Kalamazoo,  are  the  names  of  Etlward  Anderson 
and  Samuel  Haskell.     For  Milwaukee,  on  this  list, 
are  the  names  of  Richard  Griffin,   1836-40;  Peter 
Conrad,  1842-43  ;  Lewis  Raymond,  1846-48  ;  T.  S. 
Griffith,    1850-53.     In    Illinois,  at  Springfield,   we 
find  J.  Merriam,  1837-39;  Ambler  Edson,'l 844-45 ; 
Gilbert  S.  Bailey,  1846-49.     As  on  the  field  includ- 
ing  Alton  and   Carrollton,   Alvin  Bailey,  1833-34. 
In  Bloomington,   I.   D.   Newell,   1838-40;    Lyman 
Whitney,  1844-46  ;    L.  L.   Lansing,   1871-72'     In 
Peoria,  A.  Riddler,  1837-38;  H.  G.  Weston,  1846- 
47 ;    the  church    then  becoming  self-supportincr,   J. 
Edminster,  planting  a  new  church   1854-57;    I.  S. 
Mahan  (Adams  Street  Churcli),  1857-58.    In  Quincy, 
Ezra  Fisher,  1836-40;  Edwin  C.  Brown,  1840-44. 


198    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

These  may  be  viewed  as  re[)resentative  names  and 
places.  In  the  Jubilee  Volume  of  the  society,  pub- 
lished in  1883,  we  find  two  hundred  and  eighty-two 
places  named  in  Illinois,  including  nearly  all  those 
points  where  the  chief  cities  now  stand,  as  aided  by 
the  society  in  the  first  founding  of  churches,  or  in 
enterprises  of  a  later  date.  Tlie  number  to  a  like 
effect  in  Indiana,  is  one  hundi'ed  and  fifty-five  ;  in 
Michigan,  one  hundred  and  eighty-four ;  in  Ohio, 
eighty-five  ;  in  Wisconsin,  two  hundred  and  ten.  In 
these  States,  of  i)laces  not  yet  named,  are,  in  Michigan, 
Ann  Arbor,  Grand  Hapids,  Jackson,  Lansing,  Niles 
— where  we  find  Eber  Crane  in  1834-35 — Ypsilanti, 
and  others  which  we  omit  to  name  lest  our  list  grow 
too  large.  In  Ohio,  Marietta,  Massillon,  Springfield, 
Toledo.  In  Wisconsin,  Geneva,  P.  Conrad,  in  1843- 
44  ;  Joel  W.  Fish,  1846-51  ;  Caleb  Blood,  1852-53 ; 
Janesville,  Kenosha,  Madison,  H.  W.  Read,  1847- 
49;  Eacine,  Silas  Tucker,  1845-48.  In  Indiana, 
Crawfordsville,  Fort  Wayne,  Franklin,  Huntington, 
LaPorte,  Peru,  Terre  Haute,  Joseph  A.  Dixon,  1846- 
50,  Valparaiso,  Vincennes. 

This  enumeration  may  serve  a  double  purpose: 
while  it  records  names  of  men,  some  of  them  unmen- 
tioned  before,  who  have  shared  in  tlie  laying  of 
fi)undations  in  these  States,  it  shows  how  wise  and 
how  early  were  the  selections  made  by  the  society 
of  fields  to  be  occupied.  In  process  of  time  a  new 
principle  of  policy  came  into  adoption  in  the  relation 
of  the  society  to  the  several  State  organizations.     As 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  199 

these  latter  took  up  with  more  of  purpose  and  energy 
the  woik  of  State  missions,  the  inconvenience  of  a 
double  occupancy  began  to  be  felt,  and  in  States 
where  the  aid  of  the  society  was  still  needed,  arrange- 
ments were  entered  into  for  associated  methods.  The 
society  pledged  to  the  State,  through  the  Board  of  the 
State  society,  a  definite  sum,  conditioned  upon  the 
raising  and  expenditure  upon  the  field  of  another 
specific  amount.  It  was  thus  found  practicable  to 
prosecute  work  upon  the  field  under  State  auspices, 
and  at  the  same  time  have  at  disposal  a  supplemen- 
tary fund  that  should  make  practicable  a  material 
enlargement  of  operations,  the  Church  Edifice  Fund 
of  the  society  being  a  source  of  aid  often  invaluable. 
This  arrangement  was  entered  into  especially  in  Wis- 
consin, and  in  States  beyond  the  Mississippi,  but  it 
was  for  a  while  found  useful  also  in  Illinois ;  while 
in  the  latter  State,  and  especially  in  Chicago,  co-oper- 
ation of  the  society  continued  to  be  had,  to  most 
excellent  purpose,  with  particular  reference  to  the  for- 
eign population.  This  co-operative  method,  as  far  as 
the  States  just  named  are  concerned,  dates,  for  Illinois, 
from  1879,  and  for  Wisconsin,  1880,  the  then  secre- 
tary, Rev.  H.  L.  Morehouse,  d.  d.,  being  its  active 
promoter  in  these,  and  in  States  west  of  the  river. 

An  important  measure  of  the  society  was  the 
appointment  of  district  secretaries.  The  first  such 
appointments  on  the  field  of  our  present  survey,  were 
Rev.  O.  B.  Stone,  for  Ohio  and  Michigan,  in  1864; 
Rev.  J.   W.  Osborn,  for  Ohio  and  West  Virginia, 


200    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

in  18G8  ;  and  Rev.  S.  B.  Page,  d.  d.,  for  the  same 
field  in  1870-75.  The  fiekl  of  Dr.  Page,  in  1875, 
was  made  to  include  Ohio,  Michigan  and  Indiana, 
Rev.  James  Cooper,  d.  d.,  succeeding  him  in  1880. 
In  1877  Rev.  William  M.  Haigh  was  appointed  for 
the  States  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  several  States 
west  of  the  river,  such  as  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Nebraska, 
Kansas,  and  Dakota  being  later  included.  Rev.  E. 
H.  E.  Jameson,  d.  d.,  for  Michigan,  and  Ohio,  and 
Rev.  Dwight  Spencer,  for  Indiana,  are  later  appoint- 
ments. Mr.  Spencer  had  been  long  in  home  mission 
superintendency,  especially  in  the  farther  West,  with 
distinguished  service  in  Utah,  and  other  parts  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  region. 

Dr.  Page  had  filled  important  pastorates  in  Ohio, 
such  as  Massillon,  Wooster,  Norwalk,  liie  Third  and  the 
Second  (now  Euclid  Avenue)  Cliurches  in  Cleveland. 
His  efficiency  in  agency  service  was  shown  in  1866, 
by  his  success  in  securing  an  endowment  of  one  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  for  Denison  University.  As 
district  secretary  of  the  Home  Mission  Society  he 
served  nearly  twelve  years,  with  marked  efficiency. 
Rev.  James  Cooper,  d.  d.,  although  born  in  Boston, 
in  1826,  was  first  a  member  of  the  Ninth  Street 
Church,  Cincinnati,  being  baptized  into  its  fellowship 
in  1840.  Graduating  at  Denison  in  1850,  he  spent 
three  years  at  Newton,  being' ordained  in  Cincinnati, 
after  some  fifteen  months  of  mission  service  in  that 
city.  At  the  time  of  his  call  to  the  district  secretary- 
ship he  was  pastor  at  Flint,  Mich.,  previous  pastor- 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN   MISSIONS  201 

ates  having  been  at  Madison,  and  Waukesha,  Wis., 
Melrose,  Mass.,  West  Philadelphia,  and  in  Rondout, 
N.  Y.  His  service  as  district  secretary  began  in 
1880,  closing  at  his  death  in  1S86. 

Rev.  O.  B.  Stone,  d.  d.,  born  in  Homer,  N.  Y.,  in 
1823,  was  ordained  at  Xenia,  Ohio,  in  1852.  After 
two  years'  service  at  Xenia,  he  went  under  appoint- 
ment of  the  Home  Mission  Society  to  California,  and 
was  pastor  at  San  Jose,  and  Nevada  City.  Subse- 
quent pastorates  were  at  Lafayette,  Ind.,  and  Rock- 
ford,  Marengo,  and  Bloomington,  111.  His  service 
as  district  secretary  covered  only  three  years,  from 
1864.  His  health  failed  while  he  was  yet  in  the 
meridian  of  life,  and  his  last  years  were  a  period  of 
long-continued  suffering.  He  was  a  graduate  of 
Madison  University,  and  of  Rochester  Theological 
Seminary.  His  known  interest  in  education  led  to 
his  appointment  upon  such  Boards  of  direction  as 
those  of  Shurtletf  College,  and  of  the  University  and 
Seminary  at  Chicago. 

Rev.  William  M.  Haigh,  d.  d.,  was  a  native  of 
England,  born  in  Halifax,  Yorkshire,  in  1829.  Fol- 
lowing his  father.  Deacon  Daniel  Haigh,  long  remem- 
bered in  Northern  Illinois  as  a  pillar  in  the  churches, 
he  came  to  this  country  in  1852,  the  family  home 
being  made  near  Pavilion,  some  sixty  miles  west  of 
Chicago.  By  the  church  at  Pavilion  the  son  was 
licensed  to  preach  in  1852,  and  in  1853  he  was 
ordained  as  its  pastor.  After  several  years  of  ser- 
vice in  leading  pastorates  in  the  State,  service  as  chap- 


202    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

lain  in  the  army  in  1862-64,  and  one  year  in  an 
agency  for  the  Baptist  Union  for  Theological  Educa- 
tion at  Chicago,  he  was,  in  1877,  at  the  close  of  his 
pastorate  at  Galesburg,  111.,  called  into  the  service  of 
the  Home  Mission  Society  as  district  secretary.  This 
field,  as  intimated  above,  grew  into  a  very  extended 
one,  on  both  sides  of  the  great  river.  This,  however, 
he  commanded  with  remarkable  activity,  and  with 
zeal  that  never  tired,  a  patience  that  seemed  exhaust- 
less,  and  executive  skill  which  made  his  co-operation 
in  difficult  cases  of  missionary  administration  of 
signal  benefit  to  the  cause,  he  held  the  position 
assigned  him  until  the  autumn  of  1893,  when  he 
accepted  tlie  appointment  from  the  society  of  general 
superintendent  of  home  missions  in  the  States  of 
Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  the 
Dakotas. 

This  last  appointment  was  in  accordance  with  an 
enlargement  of  policy  by  the  Home  Mission  Society, 
in  view  of  the  demand  for  a  general  supervision  of 
the  Western  field,  covering  the  vast  extent  from  the 
lakes  to  the  Pacific,  such  as  the  details  of  service 
required  of  the  district  secretaries  made  impracticable. 
Dr.  T.  J.  Morgan  having  succeeded  Dr.  H.  L.  More- 
house in  the  secretaryship  of  the  society,  and  Dr. 
Morehouse  being  made  field  secretary,  this  office  of 
general  superintendent  was  created  as  co-operative, 
the  field  under  this  designation  being  divided  between 
Dr.  Haigh  and  Dr.  H.  C.  Woods.  The  new  meas- 
ure was  intended  to  provide  for  needed  supervision  in 


HOME    AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  203 

such  a  way  as  to  secure  prompt  and  cfficien'  occupa- 
tion iu  every  part  of  the  broad  area  wliere  material 
development  was  so  rapid,  with  unresting  home  mis- 
sion activity  called  for  in  all  directions. 

In  the  department  of  foreign  missions  Western 
work  was,  of  course,  in  a  good  degree  limited  to 
measures  for  cultivating  a  missionary  spirit  in  the 
churches,  and  securing  co-operation  in  the  raising  of 
funds  for  the  missions.  Active  opposition  to  this,  as 
to  other  forms  of  organized  Christian  enterprise,  may 
be  said  to  have  practically  ceased  after  the  lapse  of 
not  much  more  than  a  generation  from  the  date  of 
denominational  beginnings  in  the  West.  What  those 
charged  with  the  work  of  promoting  interest  in  for- 
eign missions  had  chiefly  to  encounter  was,  upon  the 
one  hand,  apathy  as  respects  an  interest  so  remote  and 
preoccupation  with  pressing  needs  of  the  home  field. 
The  agency  originally  employed  with  this  view  de- 
veloped in  time  into  an  organization  of  the  work 
similar  to  that  used  by  the  Hc^me  Mission  Society. 
The  agency  became  a  secretaryship  with  local  admin- 
istrative functions  which  made  the  office  a  more  re- 
sponsible one,  but  also  enlarged  the  scope  of  its  use- 
fulness. Dividing  questions  happily  ceased  to  ex- 
ist after  the  war,  so  that  in  the  West  as  ii?.  the  East, 
the  denomination  was  thenceforth,  in  this  important 
service,  practically  a  unit. 

Growth  in  foreign  mission  interest  was  an  impor- 
tant feature  of  Western  Baptist  history.  While  as 
the  States  grew  in  population  and  wealth  increased 


204   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

it  was  most  necessary  that  the  West  should  share 
with  the  East  in  providing  means  to  carry  on  the 
work  abroad,  time  was  to  show  what  precious  gifts 
in  personal  service  were  to  be  supplied  from  this  field. 
The  conditions  of  Western  life  were  helpful  in  de- 
veloping the  character  and  qualifications  suited  to 
meet  demands  of  the  work  abroad.  Indeed,  it  is 
permitted  Western  churches  to  know  that  among  those 
most  efficient  in  the  foreign  field  have  been  the  young 
men  and  young  women  in  whose  early  Christian 
training  they  have  shared,  and  who  have  gone  as 
their  representatives  to  all  parts  of  the  world  wliere 
American  Baptists  are  carrying  on  the  work  which 
Carey  and  Judson  began.  In  all  revivals  of  mis- 
sionary interest  the  West  has  liberally  shared.  Con- 
tributions from  these  States  have  steadily  grown  in 
amount.  Nor  is  it  likely  that  the  fact  can  be  other- 
wise while  it  is  the  privilege  of  Western  Baptists  to 
enjoy  such  a  representation  as  that  of  Dr.  Clough  of 
Iowa,  in  the  field  abroad,  and  that  of  Dr.  Mabie,  a 
native  of  Illinois,  in  the  administration  at  liorae. 

Among  those  earliest  in  service  as  representing  the 
interest  of  foreign  missions  in  these  States  was  Dr. 
Jirah  D.  Cole.  Previous  to  his  final  removal  to  the 
West,  he  had  been  similarly  engaged  in  association 
with  Rev.  Alfred  Bennett,  having  accepted  an  ap- 
pointment for  foreign  missions  in  1839,  spending  his 
first  year  of  such  service  in  New  York  and  his  second 
year  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri.  In  the 
year  1841   he  returned  to  the  pastorate,  but  in  1850 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN   MISSIONS  205 

accepted  an  appointment  by  the  Missionary  Union  as 
agent  for  the  Northwest.  His  seven  and  a  half  years 
of  service  were  years  of  encounter  with  many  diffi- 
culties, of  extended  travel  when  facilities  for  such 
travel  were  by  no  means  such  as  could  be  had  later, 
but  with  good  results  in  the  cultivation  of  a  mission- 
ary spirit  among  the  churches. 

Three  of  those  who,  following  Dr.  Cole,  have  been 
engaged  in  a  like  service,  had  themselves  had  expe- 
rience in  the  work  abroad,  and  brought  to  their  ad- 
vocacy of  the  cause  at  home  that  same  earnest  spirit 
of  personal  consecration  which  had  prompted  their 
oriirinal  choice  of  field.  Dr.  S.  M.  Oso-ood  died  at 
Chicago  in  1875.  He  had  been  district  secretary  in 
the  West  for  the  Missionary  Union  since  1860,  a 
period  of  fifteen  years,  spent  in  a  service  at  the 
time  even  more  taxing  to  self-denial  and  physical 
strength  than  it  is  now,  and  with  a  zeal  for  the  cause 
which  he  carried  with  him  as  a  veritable  contagion. 
He  began  active  life  as  a  printer,  and  was  connected 
for  some  time  with  the  office  of  "  The  Baptist  Reg- 
ister," in  Utica,  N.  Y.  He  was,  while  a  resident  in 
that  city,  a  member  of  the  Broad  Street  Baptist 
Church,  but  iiad  been  baptized  when  only  nine  years 
of  age  by  his  father,  Rev.  Emory  Osgood.  In  1834 
he  was  appointed  missionary  printer  at  Moulmein, 
Burma,  his  companions  on  the  voyage  over  being 
Jonathan  Wade,  Grover  S.  Comstock,  William  Dean, 
and  Miss  Ann  Gardner.  Returning  to  this  country 
in  1863,  he  served  seven  years  as  agent  of  the  Mis- 


20G    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STxVTES 

sionary  Union  in  "Western  New  York,  then  in  1853 
was  transferred  to  a  like  agency  in  New  Jersey,  Penn- 
sylvania, Delaware,  and  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
coming  in  1860  to  the  West  on  a  like  mission.  A 
'•man  greatly  beloved,"  his  personal  influence,  no 
less  than  his  powerful  advocacy  of  the  cause  he  loved, 
was  felt  in  all  the  churches  as  a  benediction  and  an 
inspiration. 

Associated  with  Dr.  O.-good  in  this  agency  from 
1866  to  1875  was  Rev.  C.  F.  Tolman,  who,  upon  the 
death  of  Dr.  Osgood,  and  for  many  years  after,  had 
sole  charge  of  the  field  which  during  nine  years  they 
had  occupied  jointly ;  the  agency  becoming  in  due 
time  a  district  secretaryship.  Dr.  Tolman,  like  his 
associate  and  predecessor,  had  had  experience  in  for- 
eign service.  Bom  at  Meridian,  N.  Y.,  in  1832,  he 
had  come  with  his  father.  Rev.  J.  F.  Tolman,  of 
whom  mention  has  before  been  made,  to  Illinois,  re- 
ceiving his  education  at  Shurtleff  College  and  at 
Madison  (now  Colgate)  University.  In  November, 
1858,  with  his  wife,  Mrs.  Mary  R.  Tolman,  a  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  Bronson,  of  the  Assam  mission,  he  sailed 
for  that  part  of  India  under  appointment  of  the 
Missionary  Union.  Acquiring  the  language  with  re- 
markable facility,  he  was  able,  before  failure  of 
health  compelled  a  return  to  this  country,  to  use  the 
Assamese  language  freely  in  preaching  and  to  reduce 
to  writing  the  language  of  the  Mikirs,  to  which  tribe 
he  had  been  especially  assigned,  and  to  prepare  a 
vocabulary  and  catechism.     Compelled  by  the  con- 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  207 

viotion  that  his  constitution  would  not  bear  the  eifects 
of  an  Eastern  climate,  he  returned  home,  and  after  a 
pastorate  in  Lawrence,  Mass.,  and  Fort  Madison,  la., 
became  associated  with  Dr.  Osgood  in  the  foreign 
mission  agency,  and  upon  the  death  of  Dr.  Osgood, 
district  secretary  for  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  other 
Northwestern  States,  his  official  journeys  frequently 
taking  him  far  over  to  the  Pacific  itself.  Growth  in 
missionary  interest  in  these  States,  with  enlargement 
of  contributions,  were  greatly  promoted  under  his 
active,  judicious,  and  zealous  labors. 

The  third  of  those  engaged  in  foreign  service  pre- 
vious to  engagement  in  work  at  home  in  the  same 
goneral  interest,  is  Rev.  Thomas  Allen.  We  have 
once  more  an  instance  in  his  case  of  the  manner  in 
which  home  missions  and  foreign  missions  in  the  per- 
son of  those  devoted  in  behalf  of  each  may  join  hands. 
Thomas  Allen,  while  yet  a  boy,  was  baptized  by  Rev. 
Thomas  Powell,  missionary  and  agent  of  the  Home 
Mission  Society,  in  the  Big  Vermillion  River,  at 
Vermillionville,  111.  This  occurred  in  1838.  His 
education,  begun  at  the  academy  conducted  for  a 
Mdiile  at  Granville,  111.,  by  Rev.  Ezra  Fisher,  another 
home  missionary,  was  completed  at  Hamilton  in 
1852,  and  in  September  of  that  year  he  sailed  for 
Burma  with  his  wife,  whom,  as  Miss  Minerva  New- 
ton, of  East  Hamilton,  he  had  married  in  July  of 
that  year.  His  station  in  Burma  was  Tavoy.  Here 
the  health  of  his  wife  failed  and  they  were  obliged 
to  return  home.     Two  years  he  served  as  agent  for 


208    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

the  Missionary  Union,  and  then  entering  the  pastor- 
ate was  engaged  at  Groton  and  Milo,  N,  Y.,  remov- 
ing next  to  Chicago  as  pastor  of  what  is  now  the 
Pilgrim  Temple  Church  in  that  city,  and  later  being 
settled  at  Benton  Harbor,  Mich.  While  at  Benton 
Harbor  he  was  appointed  district  secretary  of  the 
Missionary  Union  for  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
and  West  Virginia,  Indiana  being  later  assigned  to 
another  district.  In  this  service  he  continued  with 
extraordinary  activity  and  abounding  fruit  from  1869 
to  1891,  retiring  then  to  make  a  home  with  his  son, 
Dr.  E.  T.  Allen,  in  Omaha,  Neb.  His  successor 
upon  the  field  was  Rev.  T.  G.  Field,  transferred  to  it 
from  that  in  the  Northwest,  wliich  included  Minne- 
sota and  the  Dakotas. 

Our  personal  record  here  must  still  make  mention 
of  Dr.  S.  M.  Stimson,  during  so  many  years,  from 
1873  onward,  district  secretary  of  the  Missionary 
Union  in  Michigan,  Indiana,  and  Southern  Illinois. 
Dr.  Stimson  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  born  in 
Winchendon,  Worcester  County,  in  1815.  Four 
years  after,  his  parents  removed  to  Western  New 
York,  w^here,  in  1831,  he  became  connected,  first, 
with  a  Free  Will  Bajjtist  church,  but  soon  changed 
his  membership  to  a  regular  Baptist  church  at  Pen- 
dleton. His  preparation  for  the  ministry  he  received 
in  good  schools  in  that  part  of  the  State  where  he  had 
his  home,  being  ordained  in  the  Shelby  Church  in 
1843.  After  pastorates  of  several  churches  in  New 
York  and  Massachusetts,  he  came  from  Batavia,  N.  Y., 


HOME    AXD    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  209 

where  be  had  been  pastor  eleven  years,  to  Terre 
Haute,  Ind.,  where  his  term  of  service  covered  eight 
years.  Returning  from  a  tour  in  Europe  he  was  ap- 
pointed, in  1873,  to  the  district  secretaryship  above 
mentioned,  being  a  man  made  most  welcome  in  every 
part  of  his  field  on  account  of  genial  social  qualities, 
and  in  public  address  powerful  and  persuasive. 

What  we  write  of  these  five  men  sets  forth  a  form 
of  service  in  the  States  covered  by  our  history  of  the 
highest  importance  to  the  cause  of  foreign  missions. 
It  was  more  than  a  mere  agency.  Administrative  in 
character,  its  result  was  seen  in  organization  of  the 
work  of  collecting  funds,  and  in  combining  and  di- 
recting those  forces  in  the  several  churches,  which 
are  the  stable  and  reliable  dependence  for  means  to 
carry  the  gospel  "  into  all  the  world." 

We  have  now  to  speak  of  a  department  of  service 
in  foreign  missions  significant  and  representative  in  a 
remarkable  way.  The  place  of  woman  in  the  activi- 
ties of  this  later  age  has  been  a  question  far  wider  in 
scope  than  any  theory  as  to  her  "  rights  "  in  connec- 
tion with  secular  human  affairs.  Her  sphere,  what- 
ever may  be  true  of  it  in  otlier  respects,  has  certainly 
been  comprehensive  of  that  which  most  effectively 
gives  expression  to  those  kindly  sympathies  which 
ennoble  human  nature,  and  are  evidently  anticipative 
of  forms  of  service  made  needful  by  human  ignorance, 
sorrow,  and  sin.  That  in  some  good  time  the  activi- 
ties of  women  would  find  opportunity  and  scope  in 
connection  with    missions   in   foreign    lands  and    in 

o 


210    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

home  lands,   might  have   been  looked  for  from  the 
very  outset  of  missionary  organization. 

In  her  admirable  sketch  of  the  first  twenty  years  of 
history  of  the  Woman's  Baptist  Society  of  the  West,^ 
Mrs.  Bacon,  who  has  been  its  secretary  and  chief  ex- 
ecutive officer  almost  from  the  beginning,  Avrites  thus 
in  her  opening  sentences  : 

It  would  be  gratifying  to  denominational  pride  if  this  brief 
record  of  twenty  years  could  justly  claim  a  priority  for  the 
Baptist  sisterhood  as  a  general  organized  society  for  the  up- 
lifting of  women  in  heathen  lands.  But  such  distinction  does 
not  belong  to  us,  All  honor  to  Mrs.  INIason  and  Mrs.  Dore- 
mus,  who  led  in  organizing  the  "  Women's  Union  Missionary 
Society, ' '  the  mother  of  us  all.  All  honor  to  the  three  denomi- 
national societies  which  were  doing  a  successful  work  before 
us,  and  are  now  vicing  with  us  in  carrying  the  gospel  to  the 
women  of  the  East. 

The  proposal  for  an  organization  of  women  of  the 
Baptist  churches  of  America  in  this  behalf  was  hailed 
by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Missionary  Union 
as,  in  the  language  of  Secretary  Murdoch,  "  the  reali- 
zation of  a  hope  long  cherished."  The  proposal  for 
such  organization,  and  the  organization  itself,  were 
almost  simultaneous  in  the  East  and  in  the  West ;  the 
Eastern  society  coming  into  existence  a  month  earlier 
than  the  Western  one,  in  the  spring  of  1871.  The 
Western  organization  occurred  May  9,  1871,  in  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  Chicago.     The  meeting  to  or- 

^  "Twenty  Years'  History  of  the  Woman's  Baptist  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  the  "West,"  by  Mrs.  A.  M.  Bacon,  1891. 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  211 

ganize,  liaving  been  called  to  order  bv  Dr.  C.  F.  Tol- 
man,  was  addressed  by  Rev.  Dr.  Knowlton,  from 
China,  jNIrs.  Tolman,  and  Mrs.  J.  W.  Barker,  both  of 
whom  had  been  connected  with  the  mission  in  Assam. 
Mrs.  Robert  Harris  was  the  first  president  of  the  so- 
ciety as  then  organized  ;  Mrs.  C.  F.  Tolman,  corre- 
sponding secretary ;  Mrs.  A.  M.  Bacon,  recording 
secretary ;  Mrs.  S.  M.  Osgood,  treasurer.  At  the 
end  of  four  years,  Mrs.  Tolman  declining  a  re-elec- 
tion, ]\Irs,  Bacon,  who  hatl  been  recording  secretary 
for  only  a  few  months,  and  tiien  became  associate  cor- 
responding secretary  and  corresponding  editor  of  the 
"  Helping  Hand,"  was  now,  in  1875,  made  full  secre- 
tary, still  (1895)  retaining  that  office,  after  twenty 
years  of  devoted  and  efficient  service.  In  1872  Mrs. 
E.  W.  Brayman  became  the  recording  secretary  ;  and, 
three  years  later,  AVestern  Editor  of "  The  Helping 
Hand  "  ;  being  still,  at  the  end  of  twenty-two  years, 
serving  in  these  capacities  with  unabated  zeal  and 
efficiency.  She  was  also,  for  twenty  years,  a  member 
of  the  Publication  Committee.  In  Mrs.  Robert 
Harris  the  society  found  a  president  who,  for  eight 
years,  presided  on  all  occasions  with  eminent  dignity 
and  ability,  in  the  general  administration  also,  as  a 
gracious  and  inspiring  presence,  stimulating  and  di- 
rective. Mrs.  Harris  was  succeeded,  after  eight  years, 
by  Mrs.  Robert,  wife  of  Col.  II.  M.  Robert,  of  Mil- 
waukee, who,  after  one  year,  gave  place  to  Mrs.  A.  J. 
Howe,  a  daughter  of  Dr.  S.  M.  Osgood,  and  wife  of 
Prof.  A.  J.  Howe,  of  the  (Old)  University  of  Chicago. 


212    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

In  1893  Mrs.  Howe  was,  after  thirteen  years,  suc- 
ceeded in  the  presidency  by  Mrs.  L.  Everingbam,  for 
several  years  the  first  vice-president,  jNIrs.  Howe,  as 
an  expression  of  appreciation  for  her  most  excellent 
service,  being  made  honorary  president.  The  office 
of  treasurer  has  been  successively  filled  by  Mrs.  S.  ISI. 
Osgood,  Mrs.  C.  R.  Blackall,  Mrs.  F.  A.' Smith,  Miss 
Ella  F.  Haigh,  afterward  Mrs,  Googins,  and  Miss 
Mary  W.  Ranney,  daughter  of  Mr.  Ranney,  the  mis- 
sionary printer  at  Mouhnein,  who  was  with  Dr.  Jud- 
son  when  he  died.  Miss  C  M.  Daniells,  at  one  time 
State  secretary  in  Michigan,  and  later  missionary  to 
China,  was,  upon  her  return  home  in  1888,  made 
home  corresponding  secretary,  followed  by  Mrs.  S.  C. 
White  in  1890,  Mrs.  E.  F.  Sample  in  1892,' and  Mrs.  E. 
H.  Griffith  in  1894.  The  executive  Board,  charged 
with  the  business  of  the  society  during  the  year,  con- 
sisted at  first  of  thirteen,  afterward  of  nineteen  mem- 
bers. 

Miss  A.  L.  Stevens,  the  first  missionary  of  the 
society,  compelled  by  failure  of  health  after  one  year 
of  service  to  return,  was  in  1883  given  charge  of  the 
society's  literature,  with  visitation  of  churches  and 
correspondence  with  circles.  Circles  for  ladies  and 
bands  for  children  are  organized  in  churches,  these 
serving  as  auxiliaries  of  the  society,  most  helpful  in 
the  promotion  of  missionary  knowledge  and  interest, 
and  in  the  collection  of  funds.  The  literature  of  the 
society  is  for  use  mainly  in  the  circles  and  bands.  In 
process  of  time  the  amount  of  it  grew  to  be  very 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN   MISSIONS  213 

large  in  the  form  of  "  Leaflets,"  "  Studies,"  and  other 
publications,  "  The  Helping  Hand,"  published  in 
Boston,  serving  as  organ  for  the  Society  of  the  West, 
as  well  as  for  that  in  the  East,  as  did  also  "  The 
King's  Messengers  to  Heathen  Lands,"  for  the  chil- 
dren. Of  the  literature,  particular  mention  may  be 
made  of  the  "  Studies  in  Baptist  Missions,"  prepared 
by  Mrs.  J.  A.  Smitli,  of  Morgan  Park,  and  Miss 
Nellie  O.  Patrick,  of  Marengo,  111.  These  are  eleven 
in  number,  giving  information  gathered  and  arranged 
with  great  care  and  skill,  concerning  the  field  and  the 
work  in  all  the  various  countries  where  missions  M'ere 
sustained  by  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 
These  "  Studies,"  published  in  Boston,  Avere  widely 
used  in  the  Circles,  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West. 
Mission  Band  Lessons  were  also  prepared,  adapted  for 
the  children.    , 

The  organization  of  the  work  called  for  State  vice- 
presidents,  State  secretaries,  Associaiional  secretaries, 
young  ladies'  secretaries,  and  band  leaders  for  chil- 
dren in  all  the  States  included  in  the  society's  opera- 
tions, these  being  all  the  States  from  the  Lakes  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  with  Idaho,  W^ashington,  and 
British  Columbia  beyond.  Missouri,  New  Mexico, 
and  West  Virginia  were  also  included,  an  immense 
field,  but  with  the  work  over  its  whole  extent  so  or- 
ganized as  to  secure  system  and  order  in  the  adminis- 
tration and  steady  growth  from  year  to  year  in  mis- 
sionary interest  and  in  contributions  to  the  treasury. 
Among  the  State  officers  were  many  whose  names  are 


214    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

deserving  of  emphatic  mention,  for  long-continued 
and  most  efficient  service,  notably  Mrs.  J.  H.  Ran- 
dall and  Mrs.  Dr.  Hance,  in  Minnesota,  Mrs.  E.  O. 
Campbell,  in  Iowa,  Miss  Craven,  in  Indiana,  Mrs. 
Swegles,  in  Michigan,  Mrs.  L.  L.  Lansing,  in  Wis- 
consin, Mrs.  M.  Hay  ward,  in  Nebraska,  Miss  N.  O. 
Patrick,  in  Illinois.  During  the  twenty-three  years 
of  the  society's  history  to  the  date  of  our  present 
record,  seventy-two  missionaries  had  been  under  ap- 
pointment. During  the  first  twenty-two  years  the 
receipts  and  expenditures  aggregated  five  hundred  and 
forty-two  thousand  eiglit  hundred  and  sixty-three 
dollars  antl  thirty-three  cents ;  the  amount  for  tlie 
year  1892-93,  standing  at  fifty-eight  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  dollars  and  sixty  cents. 

It  is  a  noble  record,  and  the  more  deserving  of 
mention,  as  it  is  considered  how  many  of  the  gifts  so 
made  must  have  been  small  in  amount,  gifts  of  chil- 
dren and  the  poor,  whose  small  donations  may,  never- 
theless, have  been  larger  in  the  measure  of  the  sacri- 
fice than  those  often  may  be  which  are  reckoned  by 
the  tens,  tlie  hundreds,  and  the  thousands. 

As  we  turn  to  consider  the  work  of  women  in 
home  missions,  we  find  the  Baptist  women  in  Michi- 
gan leading  the  way  for  their  sisters  in  the  West  in 
this  important  line  of  service.  The  Women's  Bap- 
tist Home  Mission  Society  of  Michigan  was  organ- 
ized in  the  Lafayette  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  Detroit, 
April  23,  1873.  The  society  was  to  serve  auxiliary 
as  well  as  other  purposes,  doing  its  work  in  connec- 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  215 

tion  with  the  State  Convention  and  with  the  Home 
Mission  Society.  Its  operations,  however,  had  in 
view  missions  for  the  freedraen  and  the  Indians,  along 
with  aid  given  to  churches  within  the  State  in  sup- 
port of  pastors.  Among  earliest  missionaries  of  the 
society  we  find  the  names  of  Miss  Carrie  Dyer,  at 
Nashville,  and  Miss  Yaughan  and  Miss  Olive  Can- 
treni,  at  New  Orleans.  Later,  we  read  of  aid  given 
to  Miss  Rounds,  "  a  teacher  in  the  Indian  Territory." 
At  the  twelfth  annual  meeting,  held  at  Adrian,  the 
corresponding  secretary  in  her  report  speaks  of  the 
sum  of  three  thousand  six  hundred  dollars  as  coming 
into  the  treasury  during  the  year;  while  at  the  thir- 
teenth meeting,  held  in  1886,  the  society  is  described 
as  "  having  a  part  in  the  mission  Avork  in  our  State,  in 
the  South,  in  Utah  and  Dakota,  in  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory, in  Mexico,  and  in  the  work  among  the  Chinese 
at  Oakland,  Cal." ' 

In  1891  we  find  that  at  the  end  of  its  nineteenth 
year  the  society  could  report  eight  missionary  pastors 
in  the  State  aided  during  the  year  at  an  expenditure 
of  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty  dollars ; 
and  out  of  the  State,  teacliers,  missionaries,  and  dis- 
trict secretaries  at  Richmond — Miss  Dyer,  at  Harts- 
horn Memorial  College;  for  the  Indians,  Miss  Min- 
nie Pratt,  at  the  Indian  Universitv,  Bacone,  I.  T. ; 
Mrs.   Bradway,   at    the   Chinese   Mission,   Oakland, 

^  From  "Woman's  Work  and  Organization  in  Michigan,"  a 
paper  read  by  Mrs.  L.  B.  Austin,  of  Detroit,  at  the  Semi-centen- 
nial, 1886. 


216    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Cal. ;  Madame  Estrada,  Bible  reader,  City  of  Mexico ; 
Kev.  Frank  Barnett,  general  missionary  in  Utah,  and 
Rev.  G.  W.  Huntley  and  Rev.  T.  M.  Shanafelt, 
D.  D.,  in  Dakota — these  appropriations  out  of  the 
State  amounting  to  one  thousand  three  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars. 

In  May,  1893,  occurred  at  Denver  the  sixteenth 
annual  meeting  of  the  Women's  Baptist  Home  Mis- 
sion Society,  having  its  headquarters  at  Chicago. 
The  proportions  to  which  the  work  of  the  society 
had  grown  were  just  cause  of  congratulation  for 
those  who  were  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
society,  and  especially  its  early  history.  The  report 
of  the  Executive  Board,  at  that  meeting,  read  by  the 
secretary.  Miss  Mary  G.  Burdette,  showed  that  in  its 
various  missions  the  society's  field  included  twenty- 
nine  different  States  and  Territories  in  the  United 
States,  and  two  States  in  Mexico.  Sixty-seven  sta- 
tions had  been  occupied  during  the  year,  with  ninety- 
two  missionaries  under  appointment.  The  peoples 
among  whom  these  missionaries  had  labored  were 
Anglo-Africans,  Chinese,  Bohemians,  Germans,  Jews, 
Danes,  Norwegians,  Swedes,  Indians,  Mexicans,  with 
eight  stations  on  the  frontier  and  one  among  the 
Mormons.  The  receipts  to  the  treasury  during  the 
year  had  been  sixty-seven  thousand  and  fifty-nine 
dollars  and  sixty  cents. 

From  a  brief  statement  by  Miss  Burdette,  giving 
a  succinct  history  of  the  origin  of  this  society,  we 
take  the  followins; : 


HOME   AND    FOREIGX    MISSIONS  217 

The  Women's  Baptist  Home  IMission  Socictj'^  was  organ- 
ized Februarj'  1,  1S77,  in  the  IMichigan  Avenue,  now  the  Im- 
manuel  Baptist  Church,  Chicago.  Five  years  previous  to 
this  organization,  at  an  annual  meeting  of  the  Women's  For- 
eign Missionary  Society  of  the  West,  a  paper  was  read  urging 
the  great  need  of  woman's  work  in  home  missions,  and  advo- 
cating its  prosecution  side  by  side  with  tlie  foreign  work.  A 
year  hiter  the  subject  of  such  an  organization  was  discussed 
by  the  women  of  Chicago,  and  though  then  regarded  as  not 
feasible,  and  therefore  temporarily  abandoned,  it  continued  to 
have  a  place  in  their  thoughts  and  convictions.  These  con- 
victions were  strengthened  year  by  year,  both  by  the  tender, 
earnest  appeals  of  Miss  J.  P.  Moore  for  help  in  the  work  she 
was  doing  single-handed  in  the  homes  of  the  freed-people  of 
New  Orleans,  and  by  the  ever-present  consciousness  that  the 
millions  of  degraded  homes  in  our  own,  as  well  as  in  heathen 
lands  had  a  special  claim  on  the  sympathy  and  efforts  of  all 
Christian  women. 

In  the  summer  of  1876,  Mrs.  C.  R.  Blackall,  then  of  Chi- 
cago, visited  the  Indian  Territory  with  her  husband,  and 
there  saw  similar  need  for  the  labors  of  Christian  women 
among  those  people.  She  talked  to  the  Indian  women  about 
the  improvement  of  their  homes,  the  education  of  their 
children,  the  needs  of  Christian  living,  and  found  them  ready, 
only  waiting  for  instruction  to  enter  upon  Christian  work.  So 
grateful  were  they  for  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  that  in 
their  poverty  they  were  anxious  to  send  to  the  wild  tribes  be- 
yond, and  Mrs.  Blackall  organized  among  them  a  Women's 
Home  Mission  Societj^  Soon  after  a  most  touching  appeal 
was  sent  by  these  same  Indian  women,  through  Major  Gr.  W. 
Ingalls,  to  the  women  of  Chicago,  to  aid  them  in  their  work, 
and  also  to  send  them  Christian  women  to  teach  them  how  to 
live. 

The  result,  as  indicated  above,  was  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  society  on  February  1, 1877,  with  Mrs.  J. 


218    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

N.  Grouse,  as  president;  Mrs.  Carlos  Swift,  as  secre- 
tary ;  Mrs.  R.  R.  Donnelley,  as  treasurer  ;  Mrs.  James 
S.  Dickerson,  as  president  of  the  Executive  Board. 
Miss  Joanna  P.  jNIoore  was  the  first  missionary  placed 
under  appointment,  her  work  being  among  the  freed- 
people  of  the  South,  and  her  appointment  bearing 
date  May  1,  1877.  Mrs.  Grouse  has  continued  presi- 
dent of  the  society  till  the  present  time.  In  1883 
Mrs.  Swift  was  compelled,  by  failure  of  health,  to 
resign  the  secretaryship,  and  Miss  M.  G.  Burdette 
was  chosen  to  that  office,  wiiich,  at  the  date  of  our 
writing,  she  still  holds.  Mrs.  Dickerson  has  been  one 
of  the  most  active  and  influential  of  those  enojao;ed  in 
the  work  of  the  society.  With  what  extraordinary 
devotion  and  what  signal  ability  the  affairs  of  the 
society  have  been  conducted,  is  amply  testified  by  the 
extent  to  which  its  operations  have  grown  and  the 
aboundino:  good  fruit  of  its  work. 

A  training  school  for  the  preparation  of  mission- 
aries for  the  peculiar  and  especial  Avork  to  be  done  by 
them  soon  became  an  evident  necessity.  In  1881 
such  a  school  was  opened  in  a  building  secured  for 
the  purpose.  Some  years  later  money  was  raised  for 
the  erection  of  a  building  to  be  owned  by  the  society, 
and  the  school  now  has  permanent  quarters,  ample  in 
accommodation  and  affording  a  pleasant  home  for 
pupils.  Miss  M.  G.  Biirdette  was  preceptress  from 
January,  1882,  till  September,  1888,  at  which  time 
the  burden  of  the  office,  in  association  with  that  of 
editor  of  the  society's  publications  and  corresponding 


HOME   AND    FOREIGN    MISSIONS  *219 

secretary,  becoming  evidently  too  great,  she  resigned, 
and  Mrs.  C.  D.  Morris  was  chosen  to  snccectl  her. 
Under  the  administration  of  this  capable  and  accom- 
plished lady  the  school  continues  to  prosper.  Instruc- 
tion in  the  school  is  given  chiefly  by  pastors  of  the 
city  and  professors  at  the  university,  with  laymen  in 
certain  de})artmentsand  ladies  in  others.  Instruction 
includes  studies  in  German  and  Scandinavian.  The 
enrollment  of  pupils  in  1893  stood  at  fifty-six  ;  the 
instructors  in  all  departments  at  twenty-eight.  Mis- 
sionaries for  the  foreign  as  well  as  for  the  home  field 
have  the  benefit  of  the  school. 


CHAPTER  X 

STATE    ORGANIZATION 

IN  examining  such  documents  and  other  historical 
records  as  survive,  touching  the  pioneer  times  of 
the  denomination  in  the  States  under  consideration, 
it  becomes  a  matter  of  much  interest  to  note  at  how 
early  a  date  the  churches  and  their  ministry  began  to 
plan  for  missionary  service  larger  in  scope  than  that  of 
the  church  or  the  local  Association.  Evidence  is  af- 
forded that  these  faithful  men  were  early  awake  to  the 
duty  of  such  as  came  first  upon  the  ground  to  care  for 
the  spiritual  interests  of  those  who  should  come  later, 
and  to  send  gospel  preachers  as  rapidly  as  possilde 
upon  the  trail  of  the  pioneer.  The  measures  first 
adopted  were,  of  course,  limited  in  scope,  and  in  a 
degree  tentative  and  transient.  But  thev  led  on 
toward  plans  of  larger  intention  and  greater  perma- 
nency. Organizations  local  in  character  broadened 
in  time  into  Territorial  or  State  proportions;  organi- 
zations planned  to  meet  the  exigencies  then  present, 
after  a  time  took  other  forms,  suited  to  new  condi- 
tions as  they  arose. 

The  first  Baptist  organization  upon  Western  ground 
for  mission  purposes  was  the  Cincinnati  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Society,  organized   in   the  summer  of  1824 
220 


STATE    ORGANIZATION  221 

with  one  hundred  and  eigliteen  members ;  which 
number  so  increased  in  the  first  twelve  months  as  to 
give  a  membership  at  the  end  of  that  time  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty-seven.  The  first  president  of  the 
society  was  Isaac  G.  Burnet,  and  its  first  secretary 
Ephraim  Robins. 

The  Board  of  the  society  was  instructed  to  confine 
its  operations  to  a  section  of  the  State  within  twenty- 
fiv'e  miles  of  Cincinnati,  and  to  employ,  as  soon  as 
practicable,  an  agent  to  enlist  Baptists  of  the  vicinity 
in  the  proposed  Avork,  to  organize  Associations,  and 
to  raise  money  for  expenses  of  the  mission.  The  first 
missionary  agent  so  employed  was  E,ev\  James  Lyon, 
who,  at  the  end  of  six  months,  reported  one  thousand 
five  hundred  and  fifty-eight  miles  of  travel,  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-two  sermons,  one  hundred  and  nine 
baptisms,  and  five  added  to  the  number  of  auxiliary 
Associations,  making  the  whole  number  eight,  or,  in- 
cluding the  parent  society,  nine  such  societies  in  all. 

The  originators  of  the  movement,  however,  were 
soon  convinced  that  the  needs  of  the  State  demanded 
organization  upon  a  larger  scale.  The  Board  of 
Directors  accordingly  addressed  in  that  behalf,  to 
their  brethren  and  to  the  friends  of  the  Baptist  de- 
nomination throughout  the  State  of  Ohio,  "  a  cir- 
cular" bearing  date  September  22,  1825,  and  signed 
by  Noble  S.  Johnson,  president  of  the  Board,  and 
Ephraim  Robins,  corresponding  secretary.  Accom- 
panying this  circular  was  the  first  annual  report  of 
the  society,  describing   the  work  of  the  year,  and 


222    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

making  mention  of  the  labors,  additional  to  those  of 
Mr.  Lyon,  of  Rev.  Colby  Martin  and  Rev.  William 
Spencer  ;  also  reporting  proceedings  of  the  delegates 
from  the  nine  auxiliary  societies  already  formed,  at 
the  meeting  in  Cincinnati,  the  first  Friday  in  Sep- 
tember, 1825.  Receipts  up  to  that  date  had  amounted 
to  two  hundred  and  fifty-eiglit  dollars  and  eighty- 
seven  cents,  and  disbursements  to  two  hundred  and 
sixty-two  dollars  and  sixty-two  and  a  half  cents. 

At  the  meeting  of  delegates  just  named,  it  was  de- 
cided to  call  a  meeting  for  the  organization  of  a  State 
Convention,  and  the  time  of  the  meeting  was  fixed 
for  the  fourth  Monday  in  JNIay,  1826.  At  the  date 
named,  the  meeting  was  held  and  the  Ohio  Baptist 
State  Convention  organized,  with  a  constitution  and 
by-laws,  duly  drawn,  and  a  full  corps  of  officers  and 
trustees.  The  first  president  of  the  Convention  was 
Rev.  James  McAboy,  of  Athens,  tlie  three  vice- 
presidents,  Rev.  William  White,  of  Chillicothe, 
Isaac  G.  Burnet,  of  Cincinnati,  and  Rev.  Jacob 
Drake,  Delaware.  Rev.  George  C.  Sedwick,  of 
Zanesville,  was  made  corresponding  secretary ;  Rev. 
William  Sedwick,  of  Cambridge,  recording  secre- 
taryj  and  Thomas  AVickham,  of  Zanesville,  treas- 
urer. Upon  the  list  of  trustees  we  find,  among  many 
others,  the  names  of  Judge  Miller,  of  Burlington, 
Lorain  County  ;  Judge  Dunlevy  and  Wilson  Thomp- 
son, of  Lebanon,  Warren  County ;  N.  S.  Johnson, 
Ephraim  Robins,  Henry  Miller,  James  Challen, 
Thatcher  Lewis,  Nathaniel  Ripley,  Aaron  Gano,  of 


STATE    ORGANIZATION  223 

Cincinnati;  John  L.  Richmond,  of  Newton,  Hamil- 
ton County. 

The  Convention  having  been  thus  organized,  the 
Cincinnati  Missionary  Society  was  dissolved.  In  a 
communication  signed  by  E.  Robins  and  Henry  Mil- 
ler, delegates  to  the  Convention,  we  read  :  "  Having, 
under  the  smiles  of  the  great  Head  of  the  Churcii,  ar- 
rived on  the  ground  on  which  we,  the  representatives 
of  the  Cincinnati  Missionary  Society  now  stand,  we 
are  instructed,  and  have  it  in  express  charge  from 
that  body,  now  in  the  presence  of  our  assembled 
fathers  and  brethren  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  to 
surrender  its  entire  interests  to  your  protecting  care." 
On  receipt  of  this  communication  the  Convention  re- 
solved, "that  the  most  cordial  thanks  of  the  Conven- 
tion be  returned  to  the  brethren  of  Cincinnati  for  the 
disinterested  course  they  have  pursued." 

These  particulars  are  deserving  of  permanent 
record,  as  details  of  history  for  the  beginning  of  a 
form  of  organization  and  service  which  has  been  of 
unspeakable  benefit  to  the  denomination  and  to  the 
cause  of  a  pure  Christianity  in  these  Western  States.^ 

State  organization  in  Illinois  originated  in  a  series 
of  "annual  meetings"  of  Baptists  'in  the  State, 
prompted  by  convictions  of  men  like  Dr.  J.  M.  Peck, 
fervently  alive  to  the  need  and  duty  of  the  hour.     An 

^  We  are  indebted  for  what  appears  in  the  text,  to  "  Records  of 
Annual  Meetings  of  the  Ohio  Baptist  State  Convention,"  copied 
by  Rev.  George  E.  Leonard,  d.  d.,  secretary  of  the  Convention 
during  many  years,  from  "original  written  records  preserved  in 
the  library  of  Denison  University." 


224    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

effort  was  ma<le  to  secure  general  action  of  the  de- 
nomination in  the  State,  with  a  view  to  combine  re- 
sources in  behalf  of  missions  within  the  State  limits. 
The  first  of  these,  at  which  some  twenty-five  ministers 
and  a  large  number  of  laymen  were  present,  was  held 
at  Edwardsville,  October  16,  1830,  where  by  them  an 
annual  meetins;  was  oro;anized.  Provision  was  made 
for  another  like  meeting  in  July,  1831.  At  this 
meeting  Dr.  Going  is  believed  to  have  been  present. 
One  of  the  subjects  of  discussion  on  the  occasion  was 
a  national  organization  in  home  missions,  such  as  in 
the  following  year  was  made  in  New  York,  both  Dr. 
Peck  and  Dr.  Going  having  had  much  to  do  in 
awakening  the  interest  culminating  in  that  auspicious 
proceeding. 

In  July  of  1832,  a  committee,  which  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  annual  meeting  at  Edwardsville,  met 
at  Rock  Spring  and  appointed  a  "  General  Union 
Meeting  of  Baptists  "  in  Illinois,  to  be  held  in  Octo- 
ber of  that  year  at  Winchester.  On  this  occasion  an 
address  was  prepared  and  authorized,  providing  for  a 
convention  to  be  held  at  Upper  Alton,  in  October, 
1833,  which  was  held  accordingly.  At  these  several 
"  annual  meetings  "  it  does  not  appear  that  anything 
in  the  form  of  actual  organization  was  attempted,  or 
definite  plans  for  missionary  undertakings  entered 
upon.  They  were  gatherings  of  brethren  from  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  State  for  purposes  of  mutual  ac- 
quaintance and  general  discussion.  At  another  such 
convention,  however,  held  at  Whitehall,  in  October, 


STATE   ORGANIZATION  225 

1834,  more  definite  measures  were  adopted,  an  organ- 
ization being  made  under  the  name  of  "  Tlie  Illinois 
Baptist  Convention." 

The  Home  Mission  Society  liad  now  entered  the 
field,  and  it  would  seem  that  the  leaders  in  Illinois 
State  organization  deemed  it  wiser  to  depend  upon 
that  source  of  missionary  supply,  rather  than  attempt 
similar  measures  of  their  own.  The  State  Conven- 
tion served  its  purpose  in  bringing  together  brethren 
from  different  sections  of  the  State,  for  such  general 
ends  as  might  be  served  in  reports  from  the  various 
fields,  and  comparison  of  views  upon  subjects  affect- 
ing the  common  interest. 

Four  years  after  the  date  of  the  organization  men- 
tioned above,  another,  similar  in  character,  although 
with  a  more  distinctively  missionary  purpose  in  view, 
was  formed  in  the  more  northern  portion  of  the  State, 
and  including  the  then  Territory  of  Wisconsin.  The 
contiguity  of  Northern  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  natu- 
rally suggested  the  idea  of  combination  in  plans  and 
resources  for  the  common  benefit.  We  have  now 
lying  before  us  Minutes  of  proceedings  at  the  fifth 
and  sixth  sessions  of  this  body,  under  its  name  of 
Northwestern  Baptist  Convention  ;  the  former  held 
at  Bristol,  111.,  in  1843,  and  the  latter  at  Belvidere, 
in  1844.  We  find  in  the  constitution  the  object 
of  the  Convention  defined  as  being  "  to  co-operate 
with  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  to 
which  it  shall  be  auxiliary  "  ;  its  membership  was  to 
be  "  of  such  persons  as  subscribe  to  the  constitution, 

P 


226    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

and  pay  one  dollar  annually  into  its  funds,  and  of  the 
representatives  of  religious  bodies  also,  annually  con- 
tributing to  its  funds."  The  constitution  provides 
for  a  Board  of  fifteen  directors,  with  "  power  to 
appoint  and  dismiss  missionaries,  to  form  and  locate 
executive  committees,"  in  a  word,  to  carry  on  the 
missionary  work  of  the  Convention,  this  being,  as  is 
evident,  distinctively  the  purpose  of  the  organization. 

It  will  afford  some  idea  of  the  field  embraced  in 
this  organization  if  we  mention  that  at  the  Bristol 
meeting  we  find  delegates  to  have  been  present  from 
the  Northern  Illinois  Association,  includino;  Chicao-o 
and  adjacent  districts  ;  the  Illinois  River  Association, 
to  which  belonged  Peoria,  and  other  places  in  that 
portion  of  the  State ;  Rock  River  Association  and 
McLean  Association,  these  being  all  in  Illinois ;  but 
besides  these,  the  Wisconsin  Association,  whose  extent 
at  the  time  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  Rev. 
A.  Miner  was  present  from  Waukesiia ;  Rev.  A.  Bur- 
gess, from  Troy ;  Rev.  W.  R.  Manning,  from  Green- 
field. 

It  is  not  quite  clear  to  what  extent  the  Convention 
undertook  missionary  work  of  its  own.  The  treas- 
urer's report  rendered  at  the  meeting  held  at  Belvi- 
dere,  in  1844,  includes  in  its  disbursements  sums  paid 
to  the  agent  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  sent  to  Shurtleff  College,  and  to  conductors 
of  the  "  Northwestern  Baptist."  Other  amounts 
were  evidently  used  for  payment  of  missionary  ser- 
vice under  auspices  of  the  Convention.     We  find  the 


STATE   ORGANIZATION  227 

names  of  fifteen  persons  recommended  for  appoint- 
ment by  the  Board  of  the  Home  Mission  Society,  and 
approved  by  the  Board,  accordingly.  The  whole 
amount  raised  and  disbursed  in  all  ways,  by  the  Con- 
vention itself,  had  been  one  thousand  four  hundred 
and  forty-three  dollars  and  four  cents. 

Important  new  measures  in  State  organization  were 
foreshadowed  at  this  meeting  at  Belvidere,  in  1844, 
by  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  to  the  eifect  "  that  a 
delegation  be  appointed  to  represent  this  body  at 
Canton,  on  the  twenty-first  of  November  next,  to  con- 
fer on  the  subject  of  a  union  between  the  Illinois 
State  Convention  and  the  Northwestern  Baptist  Con- 
vention, to  ascertain  the  particular  terms  and  consider- 
ations upon  which  such  union  is  contemplated,  and  to 
make  public  their  deliberations  ;  also,  to  request  the 
churches  and  Associations  interested,  during  the  year, 
to  rejjort  their  views  and  instructions  at  the  next 
session  of  this  body."  It  will  give  some  idea  as  to 
the  leaders  in  State  affairs,  if  we  give  the  names  of  the 
delegates  :  R.  B.  Ashley,  H.  Headley,  A.  J.  Joslyn, 
J.  Schofield,  B.  B.  Carpenter,  Alba  Gross,  H.  G.  Wes- 
ton, O.  Adams,  William  Stilhvell,  S.  S.  Martin,  E. 

H.  Hamlin,  Whiting,  and  W.  F.  Parish,     As 

named  in  the  general  proceedings,  we  find  these  others 
to  have  been  present :  Morgan  Edwards,  B.  F.  Hays, 
Thomas  Powell,  J.  E.  Ambrose,  J.  F.  Tolman,  S.  S. 
Whitman,  L.  W.  Lawrence,  S.  Knapp.  These  may- 
be named  as  among  men  active  in  gubsequent  history, 
or  in  work  on  the  field. 


228    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS    IN  WESTERN  STATES 

The  meeting  announced  in  the  resolution  above 
quoted,  was  held  at  Canton,  on  November  21,  1844, 
being  composed  of  the  delegates  from  the  North- 
western Baptist  Convention  and  the  Illinois  Baptist 
Convention.  By  these  delegates  arrangements  were 
made  for  a  union  of  the  two  bodies,  which  union  was 
accordingly  consummated  at  a  meeting  held  at  Tre- 
mont,  Tazewell  County,  in  October,  1845,  under  the 
name  of  the  Baptist  General  Association  of  Illinois. 
The  final  record  made  by  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Illinois  Baptist  Convention,  bearing  date 
October  18,  1845,  is  as  follows : 

After  mature  delibei-ation  the  following  resolution  was 
adopted:  "Resolved,  that  a  transfer  of  the  books,  papers, 
moneys,  liabilities,  etc.,  etc.,  be  made  to  the  Baptist  Geueral 
Association  of  Illinois."  Adjourned,  sine  die.  A.  Edson, 
President ;  J.  Francis,  Secretary. 

The  effect  of  this  action  as  respects  AVisconsin,  will 
be  seen  later  on  in  this  history. 

The  question  of  union  in  State  organization  in  Illi- 
nois proved,  however,  to  be  a  more  difficult  one  than 
was  at  first  anticipated.  It  is  quite  unnecessary  to 
enter  minutely  into  the  reasons  for  this.  The  two 
sections  of  the  State,  Northern,  and  Southern,  had 
been  settled  under  auspices  in  some  respects  quite 
different :  the  one  mainly  from  the  Eastern,  the  other 
from  the  Southern  States.  Habits,  ideas,  convictions 
upon  national  questions,  may  be  said,  without  dis- 
paragement of  either,  to  have  been  strongly  contrasted. 
Not  more  than   five  years  accordingly  had  passed, 


STATE   ORGANIZATION  229 

when  a  movement  toward  revival  of  the  old  Conven- 
tion for  Soutliern  Illinois,  or  the  creation  of  a  new 
one,  reached  a  result  in  such  an  organization  at  Bethel 
Churcli,  in  St.  Clair  County,  in  October,  1850.  It 
continued  until  1855  or  ]8o6,  when  it  dissolved.  In 
1871  or  1872,  a  new  attempt  was  made  in  a  like 
direction,  but  this  also  failed  afr.er  two  or  three  years 
of  feeble  life.  A  more  efficient  organization  with 
the  same  name,  the  Baptist  Convention  of  Southern 
Illinois,  was  created  in  November,  1876,  in  a  mass 
meeting  held  at  Ewing.  This  body  took  up  mission- 
ary work,  and  maintained  a  vigorous  organization, 
till  its  leaders  became  convinced  that  a  union  of  the 
whole  State  in  behalf  of  purposes  such  as  contem- 
plated in  these  State  societies  was  a  thing  to  be  desired. 
In  1883,  accordingly,  at  Ewing,  where  its  life  began, 
this  Convention  turned  over  its  life-membership  to 
the  General  Association,  and  adjourned  sine  die. 
Since  that  time  the  Baptists  of  Illinois  in  their  State 
work  have  been  a  united  people. 

State  organization  in  Indiana  has  experienced  no 
such  vicissitudes  as  we  have  found  occasion  to  record 
of  Illinois.  What  of  discussion  and  difference  has 
been  seen  has  concerned  methods  in  State  missionary 
policy,  rather  than  any  question  of  mere  organization. 

The  State  Convention  was  organized  in  April,  1833, 
at  Brandywine,  in  Shelby  County.  The  outset  of  its 
history  was  in  some  respects  inauspicious.  Churches 
in  the  State  were  weak  in  numbers,  very  few  havino- 
so  many  as  even  one  hundred  members.     Twenty-two 


230    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Associations  joined  in  the  organization,  yet  of  these 
more  than  one-half  became  later  identified  with  the 
Old  School  or  Anti- mission  Baptists,  and  ceased  their 
relations  with  the  general  body.  Most  of  the 
churches  co-operating  were  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  State,  and  many  were  either  without  pastors,  or 
could  command  only  partial  service.  "  Even  as  late 
as  1865,"  writes  President  Stott,  "  I  could  count  but 
fifteen  churches  that  had  settled  pastors  conducting 
services  every  Sabbath." 

The  denominational  growth  since,  in  the  State,  has 
been  unquestionably  in  no  small  measure  due  to  the 
stimulating  influence  of  the  State  Convention,  the 
harmonizing  effect  of  methods  in  promoting  tinity  of 
view  in  doctrine,  and  in  the  sense  of  Christian  obli- 
gation, and  in  the  help  it  has  given  to  feebler  churches, 
tiding  them  over  difficult  crises  in  their  church  life. 

At  the  organization  of  the  Convention,  in  1837, 
Rev.  Samuel  Harding  was  chosen  president ;  Rev.  J. 
L.  Holman,  recording  secretary ;  Rev.  Ezra  Fisher, 
corresponding  secretary  ;  and  Henry  Bradley,  Esq., 
treasurer.  The  Convention  does  not  seem  to  have 
aimed,  at  first,  so  much  at  the  raising  and  expendi- 
ture of  money  in  State  missions,  as  at  organizing 
volunteer  service  on  the  part  of  ministers  already  in 
the  field.  Its  plan  was  that  each  settled  minister 
spend  a  portion  of  each  year  in  such  volunteer  ser- 
vice in  his  own  vicinity,  holding  meetings  in  destitute 
places,  and  effecting  chtirch  organizations  wliere  such 
might  be  called  for  or  justified.     The  enlistment  of 


STATE   ORGANIZATION  231 

the  local  Associations  in  similar  service  was  tried  as 
an  extension  of  this  policy,  and  with  a  view  appar- 
ently to  cultivate  more  of  local  zeal  in  this  behalf. 
A  fund  was  next  proposed  for  planting  Baptist 
churches  in  villages,  as  needed,  tlie  fund  to  be  secured 
in  pledges  of  moderate  sums  paid  yearly ;  a  method 
said  to  have  been  introduced  in  Indiana,  from  Ohio, 
by  Rev.  T.  R.  Cressey. 

These  various  expedients  illustrate  the  fact  how  in 
all  the  States  more  or  less  systematic  and  adequate 
methods  in  the  raising  and  expenditure  of  funds  was 
a  matter  of  development.  Funds,  indeed,  in  aid  of 
national  organizations  came  slowly  in  all  the  States. 
The  local  work  had  to  struggle  against  the  same  class 
of  hindrances,  including,  as  has  been  seen  already, 
the  paralyzing  effect  of  anti-missionism  in  at  least 
three  of  the  States  concerning  which  we  write.  In 
Indiana,  as  in  otiier  States,  the  good  effect  of  more 
enlightened  conviction  and  a  more  liberal  spirit  in 
giving,  were  in  due  time  seen,  so  that  the  work  could 
be  organized  and  conducted  upon  that  business-like 
basis  which  encourages  confidence  while  it  makes 
results  more  sure. 

The  Michigan  State  Convention  is  of  even  date 
with  the  State  of  Michigan  itself  Three  Associa- 
tions had,  in  1(S36,  been  formed;  the  Michigan,  in 
1826  ;  the  St.  Joseph  River,  originally  La  Grange, 
in  1833  or  1834,  and  the  River  Raisin,  now  Washte- 
naw, in  1835.  As  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  the 
number  of  churches  in  the  State,  in  1836,  was  thirty- 


2^.2    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

five,  of  members  some  two  thousand.  In  the  year 
just  named  the  State  Convention  was  organized  in  the 
Baptist  church  at  Detroit. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  how  large  a  proportion  of 
those  present  on  the  occnsion  were  from  other  States. 
We  find  on  the  list  these  well-known  names  :  Nathan- 
iel Kendrick,  Archibald  Maclay,  Elon  Galusha, 
Elisha  Tucker,  Levi  Tucker,  Jirah  D.  Cole,  all  these 
beino;  from  the  State  of  New  York.  Six  others  are 
named  all  from  the  same  State,  who  all  seem  to  be 
laymen.  The  attendance  of  so  many  prominent  men 
from  New  York  was,  no  doubt,  very  much  due  to 
the  fact  that  by  the  Convention  of  that  State  the 
early  churches  in  Michigan  had  been  fostered,  with  a 
degree  of  interest  which  made  itself  apparent  also  on 
this  occasion.  At  the  meeting  held  as  called,  we  find 
that  Rev.  R.  Powell,  presided.  Of  him  we  lenrn 
that  "he  was  one  of  the  thirteen  M'ho  in  1817,  in 
prayer  together  and  the  oifer  of  a  dollar  each  to  the 
object,  organized  the  Hamilton  Institution.  He  was 
for  some  years  the  last  survivor  of  that  honored 
hand."  Whenhe  died  at  his  home  in  Clinton,  Mich., 
in  1875,  and  in  his  eightieth  year,  he  had  been  in  the 
service  of  the  ministry  nearly  sixty  years. 

As  was  natural,  in  view  of  the  large  and  influen- 
tial representation  from  the  State  of  New  York,  the 
Convention,  in  its  organization,  was  modeled  after 
that  of  the  body  which  had  from  the  beginning  been 
so  helpful  to  Baptist  beginnings  in  Michigan.  The 
constitution  adopted  stated  its  object  to  be  the  spread 


STATE   ORGANIZATION  233 

of  the  gospel  "  by  multiplying  and  circulating  copies 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures;  aiding  home  and  foreign 
missions ;  promoting  ministerial  education,  Sunday- 
school  instruction,  and  the  circulation  of  religious 
tracts."  Its  membership  was  to  be  of  "  those  Avho 
subscribe  to  its  constitution  and  pay  at  least  one  dol- 
lar annually."  Subsequently,  a  life-membership  was 
provided  for  upon  payment  often  dollars  at  one  time. 

In  the  articles  of  incorporation  of  the  Convention 
we  find  Rev.  John  Booth  named  as  president.  Rev. 
Miles  Sanford  as  secretary,  and  Rollin  C.  Smith  as 
treasurer.  Of  the  first  of  these  we  have  already  had 
occasion  to  speak  as  belonging  to  the  pioneer  ministry 
of  Michigan.  He  had  come  to  the  State  in  1829. 
Mrs.  Eliza  Booth  Forbes,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Booth, 
in  a  letter  from  her  with  which  we  are  favored,  says  : 
"  We  were  nine  days  coming  up  Lake  Erie.  In  De- 
troit father  purchased  an  Indian  pony.  We  lived 
that  winter  in  a  log-house  with  only  one  room,  five 
children,  the  eldest  only  nine  and  a  half  years  old." 
In  1834  Mr.  Bootli  became  pastor  at  Mt.  Clemens, 
preaching  in  the  courthouse  there,  giving  one-half  his 
time  to  this  place,  and  the  other  to  St.  Clair,  twenty  or 
thirty  miles  away.  Subsequent  pastorates  were  at 
Pontiac,  Jonesville,  and  other  })]aces.  His  name  often 
occurs  in  the  early  history  of  Baptist  work  and  organ- 
ization in  Michigan,  especially  as  one  of  the  Conven- 
tion's earliest  and  most  active  agents. 

The  Michigan  Convention  had  from  the  beginning 
organized  its  work  upon  a  well-considered  system,  and 


234   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

in  the  support  of  the  various  objects  contemplated  the 
denomination  within  the  State  has  been  remarlcably 
harmonious  and  united.  While  diverse  sentiments  as 
to  Bible  work,  secret  societies,  and  anti-slavery  policies 
gave  rise  to  opposing  organizations  in  other  States, 
the  dominant  spirit  in  Michigan  has  ever  insisted  that 
freedom  of  opinion  and  action  is  consistent  with 
union.  At  first  the  several  objects  contemplated  in 
the  organization  were  placed  under  the  care  of  stand- 
ing committees.  In  1874  the  method  was  adopted  of 
annually  creating  Boards,  each  of  which  should  have 
the  object  specially  entrusted  to  it  under  its  direction 
during  the  year^  rendering  a  report  of  work  done, 
with  its  results,  at  the  annual  meeting.  These  Boards 
are  five  in  number:  (1)  The  Board  of  State  Mis- 
sions ;  (2)  the  Board  of  Christian  and  Ministerial 
Education  ;  (3)  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions ;  (4) 
the  Board  of  Bible,  Publication,  and  Sunday-school 
Work ;  (5)  the  Board  of  Home  Missions.  It  has 
proved  to  be  the  best  and  most  efficient  organization 
in  any  Western  State. 

The  history  of  State  organization  in  Wisconsin  may 
very  properly  begin  with  that  of  the  Wisconsin  Bap- 
tist Association,  formed  at  Milwaukee  in  1838.  Six 
churches  united  in  it,  comprising  the  whole  Baptist 
strength  of  the  Territory  at  tliat  time  :  Milwaukee, 
Rochester,  Southport,  now  Kenosha,  Lisbon,  Sheboy- 
gan and  Jefferson.  It  is  the  more  proper  to  begin 
with  this  organization,  as  the  purpose  of  it  so  much 
looked  toward  that  which  was  distinctively  the  pur- 


STATE   ORGANIZATION  235 

pose  of  the  Territorial  Convention,  formed  six  years 
after.  The  object  of  the  Association  was  declared  to 
be  "  to  report  the  condition  and  progress  of  the  Bap- 
tist churches,  and  to  encourage  the  planting  of  new- 
churches  in  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin."  A  mission- 
ary Board  was  also  appointed,  charged  with  the  care 
of  this  especial  work.  The  prominence  given  to  the 
missionary  idea  is  made  evident  in  jNlinutes  of  succes- 
sive anniversaries,  the  churches  being  urged  to  "  send 
up  their  contributions  to  meetings  of  the  Association"  ; 
while  at  the  second  such  meeting  the  treasurer  re- 
ported that  he  had  "  received  thirty-one  dollars  and 
three  cents,  and  six  bushels  of  wheat,  and  had  paid 
the  same  to  Elder  Mathews  for  missionary  labor." 
At  the  same  session  the  clerk  reports  one  hundred  and 
twelve  dollars  from  the  church  in  Delavan  for  mis- 
sionary purposes.  At  the  session  held  in  1840  the 
churches  are  "'  earnestly  requested  to  make  a  semi- 
annual contribution  for  the  support  of  the  missionary 
cause  within  this  Territory."  We  have,  besides  Mr. 
Mathews,  mention  of  still  another  missionary.  Rev. 
A.  B.  Winchell,  whose  field  covered  four  counties, 
Walworth,  Racine,  Milwaukee,  and  Rock  ;  his  com- 
pensation for  a  service  of  fifty-two  liays  being  fifty- 
three  dollars — not  a  large  compensation,  yet  the 
"day,"  evidently,  was  in  all  respects  one  of  "small 
things." 

At  the  fifth  anniversary  of  this  Association,  held 
at  Racine  in  1843,  twenty  churches  were  reported  in 
the  Territory,  with  a  total  membership  of  eight  hun- 


23G    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

dred  and  forty-one.  Only  five  of  the  churches  re- 
ported Sunday-schools,  and  only  one  liad  a  house  of 
worship  of  its  own,  the  church  in  Delavau  ;  a  very 
plain  one,  thirty-six  by  forty  feet,  erected  in  1841. 
The  church  in  Delavan  was  the  only  one  of  the 
twenty  having  more  than  one  hundred  members, 
while  fourteen  of  them  had  less  than  fifty  each.  The 
population  of  the  Territory  at  that  time  was  forty- 
four  thousand  five  hundred.^ 

That  the  Associational  organization  framed  witli 
these  purposes  in  view  would  either  assume  larger 
proportions  soon,  or  give  place  to  one  of  larger  pro- 
portions, was  evident.  The  latter  is  what  occurred  in 
1844.  As  indicated  elsewhere,  the  Northwestern 
Baptist  Convention  had  now  for  some  years  compre- 
hended Wisconsin  with  Northern  Illinois.  In  the 
same  year  with  the  meeting  of  Wisconsin  Baptists 
just  noted,  1844,  held  at  Delavan,  the  Northwestern 
Convention,  meeting  at  Belvidere,  111.,  had  appointed 
delegates  to  meet  with  others  representing  the  Illinois 
State  Convention,  with  a  view  to  a  union  of  Illi- 
nois Baptists  in  one  body.  Tiie  time  had  evidently 
come  for  Wisconsin  and  Illinois  each  to  occupy  its  own 
missionary  ground. 

At  the  Delavan  meeting,  a  Territorial  Convention 

^  Many  of  these  particulars  were  gathered  by  Kev.  David 
Spencer,  d.  d.,  of  Racine,  and  used  in  a  historical  paper  read  by 
him  at  the  State  anniversaries  held  at  Merton,  Wis.,  in  1893. 
Others  we  find  in  papers  read  by  Dr  J.  D.  Herr  and  Dr.  M.  G. 
Hodge,  at  the  semi-centennial  of  Wisconsin  Baptists,  held  at 
Waukesha,  Oct.  8-12,  1888. 


STATE    ORGANIZATION  237 

was  decided  upon  and  an  organization  made.  Tlie 
number  of  Baptist  churches  had  now  grown  to  some- 
what above  thirty,  and  tlie  total  of  membership  to 
about  one  thousand  five  hundred.  It  was  soon  ap- 
parent, however,  that  causes  of  division  were  rife  and 
active.  Chief  of  all  was  the  question  of  fraterniza- 
tion in  any  form  with  participants  in  the  evil  of 
slavery,  or  apologists  for  it.  At  the  second  anniver- 
sary of  the  Convention,  held  at  East  Troy,  in  184G, 
the  division  of  opinion  became  so  pronounced  that  a 
separation  was  inevitable.  The  more  conservative  of 
those  present  withdrew  from  the  house  in  which  the 
meeting  was  held.  Reassembling  near  by  in  the  open 
air,  after  prayer  by  Dea.  W.  H.  Byron,  a  merchant  of 
Milwaukee,  kneeling  "  beside  an  old  log  in  the  tall, 
wild  grass  produced  by  soil  which  had  not  been  dis- 
turbed since  the  days  of  Noah,"  the  brethren  organ- 
ized anew  under  the  name  of  the  Wisconsin  Baptist 
General  Association,  Dea.  Byron  being  made  presi- 
dent and  Rev.  H.  W.  Reed,  of  Whitewater,  secretary. 
The  name  was  ultimately  changed  to  the  Wisconsin 
Baptist  State  Convention,  and  is  the  organization  now 
existing  under  that  name.  It  is  held,  however,  and 
apparently  with  justice,  that  this  was  really  a  contin- 
uation of  the  organization  made  at  Delavan  in  1844. 
Detailed  history  of  the  several  State  organizations 
whose  beginnings  we  have  now  thus  briefly  sketched 
cannot  of  course  be  here  attempted.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  overestimate  their  importance  in  the  de- 
nominational annals  of  the  West.     While,  especially 


238    HISTOEY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

in  the  earlier  history  of  these  States,  they  served  as 
no  other  form  of  organization  did  or  could  to  bring 
the  ministry  and  the  churches  in  perhaps  widely  sun- 
dered districts  into  mutual  acquaintance,  and  so  to 
promote  denominational  homogeneity,  they  answered 
no  less  the  purposes  of  more  method  in  Christian 
work,  and  more  accordant  views  upon  many  subjects 
of  first  importance. 

For  the  first  of  these  several  ends  there  was  more 
occasion  than  might  at  once  appear.  Three  of  the 
five  States,  in  particular,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illiuois, 
were  first  occupied  under  conditions  not  favorable  to 
harmony  of  opinion  on  vital  questions,  or  ready  co- 
operation in  plans  for  the  common  service.  During 
the  years  preceding  the  civil  war,  and  while  the  great 
anti-slavery  issue  was  still  in  debate,  this  was  especi- 
ally true.  The  southern  sections  of  the  three  States 
named  were  to  a  considerable  extent  settled  from  the 
Southern  and  Southwestern  States.  They  were  also 
in  close  contact  with  those  States,  and  on  certain  sub- 
jects more  in  sympathy  with  them  than  M^ith  those  in 
the  northern  sections  of  tlieir  own  commonwealth 
which  had  been  settled  so  largely  from  New  Yorlc  and 
New  England.  The  differences,  indeed,  in  ideas, 
habits,  and  degree  of  culture  may  have  been  less  than 
it  was  natural  to  imagine;  yet,  as  is  well  known,  doubt 
and  suspicion  are  more  active  causes  of  alienation  than 
actual  difference  is,  when  men  are  willing  to  meet  on 
such  common  ground  as  there  may  actually  be,  and 
speak  to  each  other  face  to  face.     The  war  i)ut  an  end 


STATE   ORGANIZATION  239 

to  many  occasions  of  controversy,  and  prepared  the 
way  for  the  better  understanding  between  sections  of 
the  same  State,  once,  particularly  in  Illinois,  in  dan- 
ger of  real  alienation.  Following  the  war  mutual  in- 
tercourse became  possible  upon  a  new  basis,  and  for 
such  intercourse  the  State  organizations  afforded  most 
welcome  opportunity. 

The  connection  with  the  State  mission  organization 
of  ministerial  associations,  under  the  name  of  Pastoral 
Union  or  Pastoral  Conference,  was  an  important  aid 
in  the  promotion  of  the  end  already  mentioned,  and 
also  of  others.  These  associations,  formed  with  a 
view  to  mutual  helpfulness  in  the  study  and  discus- 
sion of  such  themes  as  come  naturally  within  the 
range  of  a  cultivated  ministry,  served  for  comparison 
of  views  upon  many  subjects  of  common  interest, 
M'hile  the  stimulus  of  intellectual  encounter  and  the 
gracious  influence  of  Christian  association  were  quick- 
ening and  salutary  in  many  ways.  Out  of  these  min- 
isterial conferences  in  the  several  States  grew  the  min- 
isters' institutes,  which  in  some  sense  may  be  viewed 
as  anticipations  of  what  was  to  come  later  in  summer 
schools  and  other  forms  of  supplementary  educational 
work.  They  originated  with  Kev.  Gilbert  S.  Bailey, 
D.  D.,  in  1863,  as  first  under  his  influence  recom- 
mended and  set  on  foot  by  the  Illinois  Pastoral  Con- 
ference that  year.  They  were  adopted  in  several 
Western  States  to  very  great  advantage,  lectures 
being  provided,  with  other  methods  of  ministerial 
study  and  discussion  found  profitable  in  a  high  degree. 


240    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Not  least  of  all  the  benefit  of  State  organization 
appeared  in  developing  interest  in  missions  and  plans 
for  their  promotion.  Looking  back  over  the  period 
between  the  year  1826,  when  the  first  of  the  State  or- 
ganizations was  formed  in  Ohio,  and  the  present  time, 
a  period  of  sixty-eight  years,  one  may  feel  much  grat- 
ification in  the  evidences,  not  only  of  improvement  in 
denominational  homogeneity,  but  in  development  of 
denominational  enterprise  and  fidelity  to  the  appointed 
mission  as  a  great  Christian  force  in  these  growing 
States.  They  have  been,  more  and  more,  in  the  yearly 
convocations,  centers  of  stimulus  and  opportunities 
for  culture  in  Christian  knowledge  and  missionaiy 
purpose.  The  presence  in  them  of  representatives  of 
the  great  national  societies  and  of  missionaries  from 
foreign  lands  has  given  to  the  influence  felt  a  measure 
of  eiFect  much  beyond  what  concerned  work  within 
State  bounds,  and  at  the  same  time  has  helped  to  give 
the  ideal  of  Christian  service  a  scope  in  some  degree 
commensurate  with  the  mission  of  a  great  denom- 
ination. 

The  several  State  organizations  with  which  we  are 
here  concerned  have  been  fortunate  in  the  men  called 
to  executive  functions,  and  charged  with  the  duty  of 
brinffinfr  the  interest  imiuediatelv  under  their  care  to 
the  attention  of  the  churches.  One  of  the  first  thus 
encrao^ed  in  Illinois,  was  Rev.  J.  B.  Olcott,  whose  ear- 
liest  ministry  had  been  in  the  southern  section  of  the 
State,  and  later  in  Western  New  York,  as  one  of  the 
most  active  and  efficient  agents  ever  in  the  service, 


STATE   ORGANIZATION  241 

either  there  or  elsewhere,  of  the  American  Baptist 
Publication  Society.  His  term  of  service  in  State 
missions  covered  only  a  year  or  two,  as  he  was  claimed 
in  a  like  agency  for  the  university,  then  in  process  of 
creation  at  Chicago.  He,  however,  accomplished  much 
even  in  this  short  time  in  placing  the  work  of  State 
missions  upon  an  operative  and  efficient  basis.  The 
service  rendered  also  by  Rev.  Ichabod  Clark,  of 
Rockford,  about  the  same  time,  while  retaining  his 
pastorate,  was  of  much  value.  During  four  years, 
from  1863  to  1867,  Rev.  Gilbert  S.  Bailey  held  the 
office  contributing  signally  to  the  growth  of  mission- 
ary work  within  the  State.  Dr.  I.  N.  Hobart  suc- 
ceeded him,  after  whom  came?  Rev.  S.  F.  Gleason, 
Rev.  I.  W.  Read  and  Rev.  H.  C.  First.  Dr.  Hobart's 
service  was  perhaps  longest  in  time,  and  certainly  was 
conspicuous  in  its  organizing  and  stimulating  effect. 
All  these  men  have  commanded  on  the  part  of  their 
brethren  high  appreciation  of  their  devotion,  the  wis- 
dom and  efficiency  of  their  measures.  The  initial 
year  of  Mr.  First's  service  was  made  notable  by  his 
success  in  providing  for  a  burdensome  debt,  and  thus 
placing  the  State  missions  in  a  course  of  renewed 
prosperity. 

In  Ohio,  the  present  highly  efficient  organization  of 
the  State  work  is  very  much  due  to  Rev.  George  E. 
Leonard,  d.  d.,  for  many  years  in  the  service,  a  leader 
and  an  organizer  of  marked  ability.  The  history  of 
similar  work  in  Indiana,  records  among  the  State  su- 
perintendents of  missions  the  names  of  Ezra  Fisher, 

Q 


242  msTorwY  of  baptists  in  western  states 

T.  R.  Cressey,  Samuel  Harding,  A.  J.  Essex,  Albert 
Ogle ;  in  Michigan  of  A.  E,  Mather,  T.  M.  Shana- 
felt,  C.  E.  Conley,  and  H.  F.  Cochran.  Rev.  D.  E. 
Halteman,  d.  d.,  came  to  the  office  of  superintendent 
of  missions  in  Wisconsin  in  1880,  succeeding  Rev. 
A.  R.  Medbury.  Eleven  years,  from  1869  onward, 
he  had  spent  as  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Dela- 
van,  this  being  preceded  by  a  pastorate  at  Marengo, 
111.,  of  twelve  years,  his  ordination  having  occurred 
at  Bloomfield,  in  the  same  State,  in  1857.  His  edu- 
cation he  had  received  at  Granville  and  at  Rochester, 
his  earliest  church-membership  being  with  the  First 
Baptist  Church  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  He  took  charge  of 
the  Wisconsin  State  missions  at  a  time  when  service 
such  as  he  was  prepared  to  give  was  much  needed.  A 
more  complete  organization  was  called  for,  with  stim- 
ulation of  interest  in  State  missions  among  the 
churclies.  For  service  of  both  kinds  he  was  exception- 
ally endowed.  The  work  in  iiis  hands  also  was 
brought  into  efficient  relations  of  co-operation  with 
the  Home  Mission  Society,  as  elsewliere  described. 

Among  those  who  had  rendered  valuable  service 
to  the  State  from  a  very  early  day,  was  Rev.  J.  W. 
Fish,  who  came  to  Wisconsin  about  1846,  after  grad- 
uation at  Hamilton  in  1845.  Pastorates  at  Geneva, 
Racine,  Fox  Lake,  and  Waupaca,  enrolled  his  name 
with  those  by  whom  the  foundations  were  laid,  while 
twelve  years  of  service  as  general  missionary  of  the 
Home  Mission  Society  put  him  in  active  and  helpful 
relations  with  the  State  work.     Under  Dr.  Halteman, 


STATE   ORGANIZATION  243 

whose  administration,  as  we  have  said,  began  in  1880, 
that  work  was  reorganized  on  a  basis  of  marked 
efficiency. 

At  the  anniversary  of  the  convention,  hehl  in  Mil- 
waukee in  1893,  it  appeared  that  from  all  sources, 
including  the  grants  of  the  Home  Mission  Society 
under  the  co-operative  arrangement,  the  whole  amount 
expended  on  the  field  during  the  thirteen  years  of  his 
administration  to  that  date,  iiad  been  one  hundred 
and  eiglit  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty-five  dollars 
and  forty -eight  cents ;  the  churches  and  sub-stations 
supplied  had  been  two  hundred  and  eighty-six ;  the 
additions  to  the  churches  aided  :  by  baptism,  three 
thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-four,  and  in 
other  ways,  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  ;  amount  paid  in  building  chapels,  parsonages, 
and  in  church  improvements  had  been  one  hundred 
and  forty-four  thousand  and  sixty-nine  dollars  and 
seventy-two  cents. 


CHAPTER  XI 

SUNDAY-SCHOOLS   AND   THE    YOUNG    PEOPLE 

IN  the  matter  of  Sunday-school  development  and 
growth,  the  Western  States,  on  either  side  of  the 
great  river,  owe  a  large  debt  of  obligation  to  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society.  From  its 
earliest  date  this  society  has  stood  pledged,  in  terms 
of  its  constitution,  to  tiiis  form  of  service  :  the  object 
of  its  organization,  and  the  purpose  of  its  existence 
being  declared  to  be  '^  to  ])romote  evangelical  religion 
by  means  of  the  Bible,  the  printing  press,  and  the 
Sunday-^school." 

At  the  time  of  the  Society's  organization,  in  1824, 
it  was  by  no  means  a  recognized  principle  that  a 
church  without  a  Sunday-school  is  lacking  in  an  essen- 
tial element  of  organized  efficiency.  Only  nine  years 
had  elapsed  since  the  Sunday-school  of  the  First  Bap- 
tist Church,  Philadelphia,  one  of  the  oldest  in  the 
country,  had  been  created ;  only  twenty  years  since 
what  may  have  been  the  very  first  in  the  whole  land, 
that  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Baltimore.  To 
say  that  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society 
has  been  a  chief  agent  in  bringing  to  pass  what  is 
seen  to-day,  is  to  say  only  the  truth. 

In  the  West  its  agency  has  been  made  needful  by 
244 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  AND  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE    245 

circumstances  existing  in  the  very  nature  of  the  field, 
and  by  influences  felt  long  after  churches  began  to  be 
formed.  Of  active  opposition  to  Sunday-schools,  as 
to  other  forms  of  extra  church  organization,  we  have 
already  had  much  to  say.  To  active  opposition  in 
such  cases,  apathy  and  indifference,  almost  equally 
hard  to  overcome,  are  apt  to  follow.  It  is  this  last 
with  which  missionaries  of  the  society  have  perhaps  in 
the  main  had  to  contend — this,  and  a  tendency  to- 
ward satisfaction  with  imperfect  methods  and  super- 
ficial results. 

The  earliest  laborers  in  the  West,  in  this  interest, 
were  connected  with  other  societies.  First  to  establish 
Sunday-schools  west  of  the  Mississippi  were  Rev.  J. 
M.  Peck  and  his  associate,  Eev.  J.  E.  Welsh,  labor- 
ing under  appointment  of  the  Home  Mission  Society. 
The  first  Sunday-school  east  of  the  river  and  west  of 
the  lakes  was  organized  by  Mr.  Peck,  at  Upper  Alton, 
III,  in  1819.  Of  efficient  laborers  in  other  States 
particular  mention  should  be  made  of  Rev.  Lewis 
Morgan,  father  of  Dr.  T.  J.  Morgan,  secretary  of  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society.  In  a  letter 
dated  at  Brandy  wine,  Ind.,  April  10,  1834,  addressed 
to  Dr.  Going,  and  accepting  an  appointment  as  mis- 
sionary of  the  society,  we  find  him  speaking  of  a 
Sunday-school  of  one  hundred  scholars  and  "  a  re- 
spectable Bible  class,  well  organized"  by  Rev.  Ezra 
Fisher,  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Indianapolis. 
The  emphatic  mention  so  made,  implies  something  at 
least  worthy  of  remark  in  the  circumstance  ]  and  it  no 


246    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

doubt  was  so.  A  letter  written  two  or  three  months 
later,  in  the  same  year,  speaks  of  some  "  association  " 
as  "  ^prohibiting  the  churches  founding  anything  in 
support  of  the  gospel ;  at  least  from  joining  mission- 
ary societies,  as  well  as  tract,  temperance,  and  Bible 
societies,"  and  it  is  well  known  that  alike  in  Indiana, 
Illinois,  and  Ohio,  Sunday-schools  came  under  the 
same  condemnation.  "  If,"  says  Mr.  Morgan, ''  some 
pious  Baptist  laymen,  capable  of  teaching,  were  to  im- 
migrate to  our  State,  it  would  aid  us  much  in  the 
cause  of  education,  and  particularly  in  the  Sunday- 
school  cause.  That  cause  is  gaining  in  our  denom- 
ination." 

This  seems  almost  like  a  foresight  of  what  was  to 
be  so  strikingly  characteristic  of  Sunday-school  his- 
tory in  the  West  in  years  following.  The  school  at 
Indianapolis,  of  which  Mr.  Morgan  makes  mention, 
was  to  owe  its  remarkable  prosperity  during  many 
years  to  its  superintendent,  Mr.  J.  R.  Osgood,  and 
those  associated  with  him ;  and  Mr.  Osgood  was  only 
one  of  many  laymen  in  the  churches  whose  zeal 
in  Sunday-school  service,  skill  in  organization  and 
leadership,  and  magnetism  of  personal  character,  were 
to  not  only  make  them  men  of  power  at  home,  but  to 
win  for  some  of  them,  at  least,  a  national  reputation. 
Mr.  Morgan  gave  much  of  his  time  and  strength  to 
service  as  a  Sunday-school  missionary,  with  some  ex- 
perience of  opposition  bravely  encountered,  and  in 
the  spirit  of  a  true  Christian  evangelism  overcome. 

When   this  period  of  active  opposition  had  been 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  AND  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE    247 

passed,  there  still  remained  the  necessity  for  education 
in  the  Sunday-school  idea,  its  place  in  the  general  con- 
ception and  plan  of  church  work,  and  the  methods 
■which  should  make  it  in  its  practical  operation  most 
efficient.  For  this  purpose  au  agency  like  the  Bap- 
tist Publication  and  Sunday-school  Society  was  needed. 
Such  a  service  required  organization  and  system,  and 
engagement  of  men  suited  not  only  to  inspire  but  also 
to  teach  and  to  guide.  The  system  finally  adopted 
by  the  society,  and  whose  operation  on  the  Western 
field  was  so  fruitful  of  good,  was  in  some  sort  a  de- 
velopment. The  first  form  of  it  was  that  of  the  col- 
porter  missionary,  the  first  appointments  for  that  ser- 
vice being  in  the  year  1840,  leading  the  way  of  such 
appointments  in  any  society  by  about  one  year.  The 
colporter.  in  visiting  any  neighborhood  with  the  books 
of  the  society,  for  sale  or  gift,  would  jJi'each  at  night 
in  the  schoolhouse,  or  at  some  private  house  centrally 
located.  The  organization  of  a  Sunday-school  would 
often  be  a  result,  sometimes  that  of  a  church. 

In  1867  it  was  decided  to  give  this  form  of  service 
more  of  system,  and  under  a  different  class  of  labor- 
ers. Sunday-school  missionaries  were  appointed,  their 
field  of  labor  being  in  the  West  and  South.  This  be- 
came, in  process  of  time,  one  of  the  most  efficient 
forms  of  Christian  service  anywhere  in  operation.  To 
the  work  of  organizing  schools  was  added  that  of  hold- 
ing institutes,  at  which  Sunday-school  methods  were 
discussed  under  the  lead  of  the  Sunday-school  mission- 
ary, and  the  whole  occasion  improved  for  both  stimulus 


248    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

and  instruction.  Of  the  men  long  engaged  in  this 
service,  and  greatly  honored  of  their  brethren,  may  be 
named  Rev.  E.  A.  Russell  and  Rev.  S.  H.  Huifman, 
in  Indiana ;  Rev.  Charles  Rhoades,  in  Ohio ;  Rev.  J. 
C  Baker,  first  of  such  under  appointment  in  Ilh'nois  ; 
followed,  in  1879,  in  an  efficient  service  of  five  and  a 
half  years,  by  Mr.  H.  R.  Clissold,  Rev.  E.  S.  Graham, 
in  the  same  State,  Rev.  L.  B.  Albert,  in  the  north  part 
of  the  State,  succeeded,  in  1894,  by  Rev.  E.  A.  Stone, 
D.  D,,  and  Rev.  G.  W.  Danbury,  in  the  southern ; 
Rev.  E.  D.  Rundell,  in  Michigan ;  Rev.  E.  B.  Ed- 
munds, in  Wisconsin ;  and  Mr.  Boston  W.  Smith,  in 
Minnesota.  The  service  so  rendered  cannot  be  too 
highly  estimated,  eitlier  in  itself,  in  its  fruits,  or  in  the 
devotion,  practical  efficiency,  and  gifts  for  leadership 
in  the  men  engaged. 

The  system  so  planned  was  organized  very  much 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Dr.  C.  R.  Blackall,  of 
Chicago,  wlio,  in  1867,  the  date  at  which  it  was  set  in 
operation,  was  made  district  secretary  of  the  society 
for  the  Northwest.  He  had  long  been  among  the 
most  active  and  influential  leaders  in  Sunday-school 
work.  The  establishment  of  the  Depository,  at  Chi- 
cago, under  his  general  direction,  was  a  highly  im- 
portant measure ;  providing  a  more  direct  source  of 
supply  for  all  kinds  of  Sunday-school  literature,  and 
a  center  of  operations  for  the  system  as  planned.  Dr. 
Blackall  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  F.  G.  Thearle,  about 
1870,  coming  to  this  service  after  the  conclusion  of 
his  pastorate  at  Decatur,  111.     His  superintendence  of 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  AND  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE    249 

the  work  over  liis  extended  field  took  him  often  to 
the  State  meetings  and  other  large  gatherings,  where 
his  presence  and  his  stimulating  appeals  were  always 
made  welcome.  The  business  of  the  Society's  branch 
house,  under  his  care,  developed  into  proportions 
which  made  it  one  of  the  most  important  Sunday- 
school  centers  in  the  whole  country. 

The  part  which  the  West  has  had,  through  its  fore- 
most Sunday-school  man,  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  in  lead- 
ing a  national,  and  finally  an  international  system  of 
Sunday-school  teaching,  and  through  another  of  its 
men  with  a  genius  for  organization,  Dr.  William  R. 
Harper^  in  the  origination  of  inductive  methods  of 
teaching  in  the  schools,  should  have  a  conspicuous 
place  in  the  record  we  here  make.  Mr.  Jacobs,  in 
1868,  had  begun  furnishing  to  "  The  Standard,"  of 
Chicago,  expositions  of  lessons  published  in  "  The 
National  Sunday-school  Teacher."  About  this  time, 
also,  an  exposition  of  tiie  lesson  at  the  noonday 
prayer  meeting,  on  Saturday  of  each  week,  in  Chicago, 
was  bescun,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Jacobs  and 
Mr.  Moody.  As  such  expositions  in  religious  papers, 
and  otherwise,  became  more  common,  some  uniformity 
in  the  lessons  themselv^es  became  evidently  a  thing 
much  to  be  desired. 

In  the  summer  of  1871,  a  meeting  of  publishers, 
representing  twenty-six  periodicals  in  which  Sunday- 
school  lessons  were  published,  was  held  in  New  York, 
for  the  consideration  of  the  question  of  uniform  les- 
sons for  the  whole  country.     A  committee  was  ap- 


250   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

pointed  to  prepare  such  a  series  of  lessons,  to  be  a 
matter  of  trial  for  a  single  year ;  but  this  committee, 
upon  coming  together  to  consider  the  subject,  decided 
that  the  idea  was  not  practicable.  Mr.  Jacobs,  though 
a  member  of  the  committee,  had  not  been  able  to  at- 
tend. Learning  later  of  the  decision,  he  succeeded  in 
securing  another  meeting  of  the  committee,  and  at 
this  meeting,  under  the  influence  of  his  eloquent 
urgency,  the  decision  was  reversed,  and  lessons  for 
1872  were  accordingly  framed.  In  April  of  the  year 
just  named,  at  a  Sunday-school  convention  in  Indian- 
apolis, with  an  immense  attendance  and  great  enthusi- 
asm, it  was  decided,  with  only  ten  voices  in  dissent, 
that  the  Uniform  National  Lessons  should  become  the 
policy,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  have  the 
work  in  charge.  In  due  time  the  National  Series  be- 
came International,  so  that  throughout  what  may  be 
called  the  Sunday-school  world,  uniformity  of  study 
and  of  teaching  was  adopted. 

Tlie  method  in  Bible  study  introduced  by  Dr. 
William  R.  Harper,  was  a  fruit  of  his  method  of 
teachiuo;  in  Hebrew  and  the  cognate  languages — a 
method  which  very  much  revolutionized  such  methods, 
not  only  in  the  study  of  Hebrew,  but  of  the  Latin 
and  Greek.  His  treatment  of  the  Sunday-school 
lesson  after  a  similar  plan,  was  introduced  in  his  "Old 
and  New  Testament  Student,"  and  after  some  years  of 
observation  as  to  its  value,  was  adopted  by  the  Amer- 
ican Baptist  Publication  Society  and  by  other  publish- 
ing houses. 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  AND  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE    251 

Closely  connected  with  the  histoiy  which  we  here 
follow,  and  having  its  origin  on  Western  gronnd, 
though  taking  shape  finally  through  the  Publication 
Society  as  a  chief  instrumentality,  is  the  organization 
of  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  of  America. 
While  it  may  be  true  that  the  original  awakening  of 
interest  in  the  enlistment  of  young  people  in  religious 
work  and  Bible  study  is  in  a  good  degree  due  to  the 
National  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  yet  it  will 
not  be  true  history  to  say  that  among  Baptists  this 
was  altoirether  the  case.  Meetings  held  and  conducted 
by  young  people  as  among  regular  appointments  of 
the  church  had  been  more  or  less  in  practice  during 
many  years,  and  lunl  indeed  helped  much  in  preparing 
the  way  for  a  larger  movement  on  a  more  extended 
plan.  Among  Baptists  also,  the  idea  of  a  general  or- 
ganization of  the  young  people,  with  larger  purpose 
than  simply  the  holding  of  devotional  meetings,  may 
be  said  to  have  had  in  some  degree  an  origin  of  its 
own.  Although  in  tracing  the  movement,  with  its 
important  results,  we  must  limit  ourselves  chiefly  to 
occurrences  upon  the  field  of  our  present  narrative, 
yet  for  the  absolute  beginning  we  cross  the  great  river 
into  States  farther  west. 

The  thought  out  of  which  the  organization  ulti- 
mately formed  may  be  said  to  have  grown  appears 
to  have  first  found  definite  expression  in  measures  of 
a  Kansas  pastor,  Rev.  O.  W.  Van  Osdel,  of  Ottawa,  in 
that  State.  His  thought  was  the  enlistment  of  Bap- 
tist young  people  to  a  greater  extent  in  the  general 


252    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

work  of  the  denomination,  conpHng  Avitli  this  sys- 
tematic methods  of  Bible  study.  The  organization 
proposed  by  hira  in  this  view  was  to  be  local,  associ- 
ational.  State,  and  national.  Four  specific  ends  were 
to  be  held  in  view.  These  were,  as  defined  by  Mr. 
Van  Osdel  himself,  instruction  in  the  doctrines  of  the 
Bible,  denominational  history,  proportionate  and  sys- 
tematic giving,  and  systematic  missionary  effort. 
"  The  department,"  it  is  added,  "  was  to  be  organized 
under  a  covenant  instead  of  a  constitution."  The 
motto  chosen  for  the  organization  as  planned,  and 
adopted  later  by  that  which  was  actually  created, 
was  "  Loyalty  to  Christ,  in  all  things,  at  all  times." 
The  names  "Loyalist"  and  "Loyalist  Movement" 
hence  had  their  origin. 

Application  was  early  made  to  the  Publication  So- 
ciety, with  a  view  to  secure  its  co-operation.  The 
secretary.  Dr.  Griffith,  gave  the  movement  his  general 
approval,  but  doubted  if  the  denomination  were  as 
yet  ready  for  it.  Mr.  Van  O.^del,  nevertheless,  per- 
sisted in  his  effort  to  interest  pastors  and  others  by 
means  of  circulars  and  other  forms  of  publication, 
and  by  direct  correspondence.  The  responses  he  re- 
ceived were  such  as  to  indicate  decided  growth  of 
interest.  Among  those  who  entered  most  heartily  into 
the  idea,  was  Rev.  L.  W.  Terry,  then  pastor  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  in  Grand  Island,  Neb.  Mr. 
Van  Osdel,  however,  found  sympathy  among  pastors 
in  his  own  State,  so  that  at  the  meeting  of  the  Kansas 
Baptist  State  Convention,  held  at  Fort  Scott,  in  1888, 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  AND  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE    253 

a  place  upon  the  general  programme  was  assigned  to 
the  young  people,  the  movement  in  their  interest  there 
receiving  marked  attention.  In  the  following  year, 
at  the  meeting  of  the  Convention,  held  in  October,  at 
Clay  Center,  Kansas,  opportunity  was  afforded  to  the 
Baptist  young  people  of  the  State  to  hold  a  convention 
of  their  own,  and  this  must  accordingly  be  regarded 
as  the  first  such  gathering  of  young  people  in  the  his- 
tory of  this  movement.  In  all  this,  Mr.  Van  Osdel 
had  the  efficient  co-operation  of  such  pastors  in  the 
State  as  Rev.  T.  R.  Peters  and  Rev.  A.  H.  Stote,  with 
Rev.  D,  D.  Proper,  the  superintendent  of  State 
missions. 

Nebraska,  meanwhile,  in  the  person  of  leading 
Baptist  pastors,  M-itli  leaders  also  of  the  young  peo- 
ple, had  become  interested.  Mr.  Terry,  in  efforts  to 
promote  a  movement  in  his  own  State  like  what  was 
going  forward  in  Kansas,  had  the  co-operation  of 
Rev.  A.  W.  Lamar  and  Rev.  A.  W.  Clark,  of  Omaha, 
Rev.  O.  A.  Williams,  of  Lincoln,  and  others.  The 
result  svas  an  afternoon  given  up  to  the  young  people 
for  a  session  of  their  own  at  tiie  State  Convention, 
held  at  Grand  Island,  in  November,  1889.  At  this 
session  a  State  organization  was  effected,  with  the 
proper  officers. 

Mr.  Van  Osdel  now  became  convinced  that  the  time 
had  come  for  proposing  that  the  movement  become 
national.  In  this  view  he  addressed  letters  to  pastors 
in  various  leading  centers,  and  obtained  in  reply  from 
a  very  large  number  words  of  cordial  approval,  also 


254    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

from  those  in  other  positions,  as  President  G.  W. 
Northrup,  Dr.  W.  R.  Harper,  President  Alvah 
Hovey,  and  others.  At  the  meeting  of  the  national 
anniversaries,  at  Chicago,  in  May,  1891,  a  large  num- 
ber of  brethren  came  together  in  the  interest  of  this 
question.  As  the  result,  an  executive  committee  was 
chosen,  consisting  of  Dr.  E.  B,  Hulbert,  O.  W.  Van 
Osdel,  and  Dr.  C.  Perren,  charged  especially  with  the 
oversight  and  promotion  of  general  organization. 

The  report  of  what  had  been  done  in  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  had  in  the  meantime  awakened  interest  to  a 
like  end  in  other  Western  States,  notably,  in  South 
Dakota,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  and  Illinois. 
Action  at  the  State  meetings  in  the  following  year, 
sio-nificant  of  such  interest  in  these  and  in  other  States 
was  had,  while  in  Chicago,  a  Baptist  Young  People's 
Union  for  the  city  was  organized,  with  Mr.  John  H. 
Chapman  as  president.  As  societies  of  Christian 
Endeavor  were  already  in  existence  very  generally 
throughout  the  denomination,  and  attachment  to  these 
was  very  strong,  some  division  of  opinion  appeared 
as  to  the  expediency  of  a  separate  Baptist  organization. 
The  movement  for  such  an  organization  could  not, 
however,  be  checked.  A  paper  in  its  interest,  styled 
"  The  Loyalist,"  was  started  at  Chicago,  under  the 
proprietorship  of  Rev.  J.  M.  Coon  and  Rev.  O.  W.  Van 
Osdel.  Meantime  the  proposal  for  a  national  organi- 
zation under  some  suitable  name  had  enlisted  much 
interest,  and  in  connection  with  this  the  counter  pro- 
posal that  the  work  of  the  young  people  be  taken  up 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  AND  THE  YOUNG  TEOPLE     255 

as  a  branch  of  the  Publication  Society's  work.  In 
December  of  1890,  "The  Loyalist"  was  transferred 
to  Philadelphia,  and  its  publication  there  continued 
under  the  name  of  "  The  Young  People  at  Work," 
whose  controlling  idea  from  its  inception  was  the 
unification  of  Baptist  young  people  regardless  of  name 
or  organization.  The  name  of  the  paper  was  changed 
later  to  the  "  Young  Peoples  Union,"  and  is  now 
"The  Baptist  Union." 

Through  the  influence  of  the  Society,  interest  in  the 
movement  as  a  denominational  one  continued  to  errow. 
and  Avhen  in  April,  1891,  a  conference  was  held  at 
Philadelphia,  called  by  the  Publication  Society,  to 
consider  the  question  in  its  national  scope,  it  had  taken 
such  form  in  the  minds  of  the  members  of  the  confer- 
ence as  to  secure  the  adoption  of  a  basis  of  agreement 
promising  to  satisfy  the  views  and  preferences  of  all 
concerned.  The  two  points  thus  agreed  to  were  as 
follows :  "  1.  That  the  Baptist  national  organization, 
when  formed  in  July  next,  be  on  a  basis  broad  enough 
to  receive  all  Baptist  young  people's  societies  of  what- 
ever name  or  constitution.  2.  That  no  Baptist  young 
people's  society  now  organized  will  be  required  to  or- 
ganize under  any  other  name  or  constitution  in  order 
to  obtain  representation  in  such  a  body,  either  State 
or  national."  Tiie  influential  endorsement  by  the 
society  of  this  formulation  of  these  two  main  principles 
of  organization,  had  much  to  do,  beyond  doubt,  in  secur- 
ing the  unanimity  shown  in  the  national  organization 
made  in  the  July  following.    Indeed  it  is  questionable 


256    HISTORY  OF  BATTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

whether  an  organization  really  national  conld  have 
been  effected  at  all  had  it  not  been  for  the  Society's 
advocacy  and  support. 

It  was  in  Jidy,  1890,  that  the  convention  at  which 
the  organization  alluded  to  was  made  occurred  at  the 
Second  Baptist  Church,  Chicago.  The  attendance 
alone  made  it  one  of  the  most  notable  of  such  gatlier- 
incs  held  in  recent  times.  The  number  of  delegates 
was  over  two  thousand,  and  the  attendance  upon  the 
sessions  of  the  convention  was  so  large  as  to  necessi- 
tate overflow  meetings  in  the  Centenary  Methodist 
Church,  near  by.  The  temporary  organization  included 
F.  L.  Wilkins,  D.  D.,  of  Davenport,  as  chairman ;  Rev. 
L.  W.  Terry,  of  Nebraska,  as  secretary ;  and  Prof. 
J.  W.  Moncrief,  of  Franklin  College,  as  assistant 
secretary.  Christian  Endeavor  societies  were  largely 
represented,  and  the  tone  of  the  meeting  throughout 
was  most  fraternal.  Among  those  making  addresses 
may  be  named,  besides  Mr.  Chapman,  Drs.  Hobbs, 
Henderson,  Lowrie,  Mabie,  Vosburg,  Harper,  Lo ri- 
mer. Woods,  Gifford,  and  Revs.  J.  K.  Dixon,  of 
Pennsylvania,  Leighton  Williams,  of  New  York,  W. 
F.  Taylor,  of  Indianapolis,  D.  D.  McLaurin,  Mr.  Ed- 
ward Goodman,  Mr.  J.  O.  Staples,  Mr.  M.  G.  McLeod, 
Miss  Ella  McLaurin,  Miss  M.  G.  Burdette.  A  con- 
stitution embodying  the  principles  formulated  by  the 
conference  at  Philadelphia  was  unanimously  adopted ; 
the  officers  first  chosen  being  Mr.  John  H.  Chapman, 
as  president;  F.  L.  Wilkins,  d.  d.,  Iowa,  Rev.  J. 
B.  Cranfill,  Texas,   Rev.  O.  P.  Gilford,   Massachu- 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS  AND  THE  YOUNG  PEOPLE    257 

setts,  vice-presidents ;  Rev.  R.  F.  Y.  Pierce,  of  New 
Jersey,  secretary. 

Upon  the  Board  of  Managers  the  following  States 
•were  represented :  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Kentucky, 
Maryland,  Connecticut,  Pennsylvania,  New  York, 
Ohio,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Nebraska,  Kansas, 
with  the  District  of  Columbia  and  Canada. 

The  organization  made,  proved  to  be  a  most  efficient 
one.  Mr.  Chapman,  a  prominent  business  man  in 
Chicago,  entered  into  the  service  with  a  zeal  that 
never  tired,  with  the  practical  judgment  of  one  accus- 
tomed to  deal  with  perplexing  questions,  and  added  to 
these  a  talent  for  public  address  such  as  to  give  him 
power  with  any  audience.  Dr.  Wilkins,  who  became 
the  corresponding  and  financial  secretary,  had  been 
warmly  interested  in  the  movement  from  its  early 
stages,  and  most  influential  in  advocating  it.  Resign- 
ing his  pastorate  at  Davenport,  he  came  to  Chicago, 
and  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  work  of  organizing 
the  movement  over  the  whole  country.  The  paper, 
which  had  been  removed  to  Philadelphia,  was  retaken 
to  Chicago,  with  a  vastly  enlarged  subscription  list, 
under  an  arrangement  with  the  Publication  Society, 
and  with  this  as  its  organ.  Dr.  Wilkins  becoming 
the  editor,  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union  of 
America  began  its  career  of  signal  prosperity  and 
usefulness. 

What  has  so  far  been  said  of  the  part  taken  by  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society  in  Sunday- 
school  aud  young  people's  organization,  by  no  means 

R 


258    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

represents  the  extent  of  its  co-operation  and  usefulness 
in  denominational  development  throughout  the  West. 
Of  the  extraordinary  work  under  its  care — chapel- 
car  evangelism — we  speak  in  the  closing  chapter  of 
this  book.  The  literature  of  the  Society,  in  the  larger 
sense  of  that  word,  has  contributed  as  few  other  agen- 
cies could  have  done  to  the  promotion  of  denomina- 
tional intelligence  as  regards  truth  fundamental  in 
Baptist  teaching,  and  denominational  unity  in  the 
faith.  Western  Baptists,  strenuous  in  their  own  con- 
victions upon  denominational  questions,  have  placed  a 
high  value  upon  the  works  it  has  issued,  aiming  at 
indoctrination  upon  these  after  the  New  Testament 
teaching  and  authority.  Its  literature,  as  a  whole,  has 
had  a  warm  welcome  in  Western  homes,  where  also 
the  name  of  its  late  lamented  secretary,  Dr.  Benjamin 
Griffith,  has  long  been  honored  and  beloved,  alike  by 
the  child  in  the  school,  and  the  adult  at  the  fireside 
and  in  the  church. 


CHAPTER  XII 

EDUCATION — COLLEG I  ATE 


THE  credit  of  originating  movements  in  behalf  of 
higher  education  on  the  field  here  considered, 
must,  it  would  seem,  be  yielded  to  Ohio.  When  the 
Cincinnati  Domestic  Missionary  Society  was  formed 
in  1824,  as  described  in  a  former  chapter,  among  its 
objects  were  these  :  "  To  promote  the  cause  of  gospel 
missions,  and  the  education  of  ministers,  called,  chosen, 
and  faithful."  ^  This  is,  so  far  as  any  record  shows, 
the  first  note  of  that  advocacy  of  education  as  a  motive 
in  denominational  enterprise,  destined  to  be  heard  so 
often  and  to  such  purpose  in  later  years. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  Cincinnati  society,  a  Bap- 
tist State  Convention,  as  we  have  already  shown,  was 
organized  in  1826.  The  cause  of  education  during 
the  first  two  or  three  years  of  the  new  organization, 
appears  to  have  received  only  a  passing  attention,  a 
resolution  at  the  second  anniversary,  held  in  1828, 
simply  expressing  a  great  interest  in  the  prosperity  of 
"Columbian   College,"   at  Georgetown,  D.   C,  and 

^  From  a  paper  by  Prof.  F.  W.  Shepardson,  in  the  "  Fifth  Gen- 
eral Catalogue  of  Denisoii  University,"  1893. 

259 


260    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

"  recommending  it  to  the  patronage  of  our  brethren 
throughout  this  State." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Convention  at  Lebanon,  held 
in  1830,  steps  were  taken,  not  formally  by  that  body 
itself,  but  by  members  of  the  Convention,  among 
whom  we  find  named  Hubbell  Loomis,  who  was 
chairman  of  the  meeting,  Geo.  C.  Sedwick,  Wilson 
Thompson,  Hezekiah  Johnson,  Henry  Miller,  Ichabod 
Corwin,  Esq.,  and  eleven  others,  having  in  view  "  the 
adoption  of  some  measures  looking  to  the  encourage- 
ment of  education  in  the  Baptist  denomination  in  the 
State  of  Ohio."  It  was  also  "  Resolved,  That  the 
meeting  deems  it  expedient  that  a  literary  and  theo- 
logical seminary,  under  the  patronage  of  the  regular 
Baptist  denomination  of  Christians,  be  established  in 
the  State  of  Ohio." 

As  it  was  in  1831  that  Dr.  Jonathan  Going  visited 
the  West,  it  is  clear  that  the  movement  in  behalf  of 
higher  education  in  Ohio  had  at  that  date  already  been 
initiated  by  men  upon  the  ground.  Nearly  at  the 
same  time,  so  nearly  as  to  leave  room  for  a  possible 
question  as  to  the  priority  of  dates.  Rev.  John  M. 
Peck,  in  Illinois,  had  taken  steps  in  a  like  direction. 

In  1826,  Dr.  Peck  visited  New  York  and  New 
England,  soliciting  aid  for  the  West,  "  both  in  sus- 
taining missionaries,  and  to  assist  in  founding  a  liter- 
ary and  theological  institution  "  at  the  place  of  his 
residence.  Rock  Spring.  Although  two  years  had 
then  passed  since  the  action  of  the  Cincinnati  Domes- 
tic Missionary  Society,  above  mentioned  in  1824,  it  is 


EDUCATION  261 

clear  that  leaders  in  denominational  alTairs  in  Ohio 
and  Illinois  had  this  important  matter  under  consid- 
eration at  the  very  same  time.  The  credit  for  the  first 
distinct  expression  in  that  behalf  belongs,  however,  to 
the  former  of  these  two  States. 

Resuming  our  notice  of  the  informal  meeting  at 
Lebanon,  Ohio,  in  1830,  we  find  the  following  action 
on  record,  additional  to  what  is  quoted  above,  attesting 
the  expediency  of  founding  a  "  literary  and  theolog- 
ical seminary  "  under  Baptist  auspices  :  "  That  the 
brethren  present  now  form  themselves  into  a  society 
to  carry  into  effect  the  object  of  the  above  resolution; 
that  a  committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  draft  a  con- 
stitution for  the  society,  and  that  brethren  Bradley, 
Sedwick,  and  Herrick  be  that  committee  ;  that  breth- 
ren Wilson  Thompson,  J.  Boyd,  and  N.  S.  Johnson, 
be  a  committee  to  prepare  an  address  to  the  churches 
on  the  subject ;  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  re- 
ceive proposals  and  solicit  donations  to  the  object  of 
the  meetino-" — which  committee,  consisting  of  some 
fifty  members,  was  accordingly  chosen.  Of  men  on 
this  list  whose  names  liave  before  appeared  in  our  his- 
tory, we  note  the  following :  Geo.  C.  Sedwick,  William 
Sedwick,  Wilson  Thompson,  Hezekiah  Johnson,  John 
L.  Richmond.  The  meeting  further  resolved  :  "That 
when  this  meeting  adjourns,  it  shall  be  adjourned  to 
meet  at  Zanesville,  on  the  first  Wednesday  (the  6th) 
of  October  next,  1830  ;  that  this  meeting  recommends 
to  the  attention  of  our  denomination  the  institution 
under  the  care  of  Rev.  Joshua  Bradley,  now  in  sue- 


262    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

cessful  operation  at  Middletown,  Butler  County,  until 
the  contemplated  seminary  be  established,  and  that 
Bro.  Bradley  be  requested  to  secure  the  services  and 
library  of  Eld.  Loom  is  in  that  institution,  if  prac- 
ticable." From  this  last  it  appears  that  a  sciiool  was 
already  in  progress,  although  this  is  the  only  mention 
made  of  it  in  the  record  we  follow. 

In  their  addi-ess  to  the  churches,  the  committee  of 
fifty  before  named,  with  Rev.  Geo.  C  Sedwick  as 
chairman,  urged  upon  them  the  importance  of  what 
had  been  proposed,  and  mentioned  that  certain  offers 
for  a  site  of  the  proposed  institution  had  already  been 
received.  The  society  met  again  pursuant  to  adjourn- 
ment, on  the  6th  of  October,  in  the  same  year,  at 
Zanesville.  Hon.  Francis  Dunlevy  was  made  chair- 
man of  the  meeting.  Besides  the  adoption  of  a  con- 
stitution, the  society  had  in  hand  the  selection  of  a 
site  for  the  proposed  seminary.  We  find  that  an  ex- 
tended communication  was  received,  expressing  the 
views  of  Geo.  Patterson,  Noble  S.  Johnson,  John 
Wooley,  Adam  McCormick,  Thacher  Lewis,  A.  Dudley, 
and  C.  E.  Robins,  prominent  Baptists  of  Cincinnati, 
who  desired  that  Newport,  Ivy.,  might  be  selected  as 
the  site  of  the  seminary.  The  decision  reached,  after 
full  consideration,  was  that  the  contemplated  institu- 
tion "ought  to  be  located  in  this  State  (Ohio),  in  con- 
formity to  the  principles  agreed  on  at  the  meeting  in 
May  last."  The  place  finally  chosen  was  Granville, 
the  opinion  of  Dr.  Going,  then  on  a  visit  to  the  State 
being  of  much  weight  in  that  behalf. 


EDUCATION 


263 


On  May  26,  1831,  the  society  again  met,  at  Lancas- 
ter, twenty-seven  miles  from  Granville.  Adjourning 
"  to  meet'  at  Granville,  at  4  P.  M.  to-morrow,"  the 
brethren,  after  a  journey  across  the  country  by  such 
convevances  as  were  at  command,  met  as  adjourned, 
prayer  at  the  opening  of  their  meeting  being  oflered 
by  Dr.  Going.  Tlie  following  resolutions  were  the 
result  of  the  meeting  : 

That  it  is  expedient  to  establish  a  college  as  soon  as  prac- 
ticable undar  the  direction  of  the  Regular  Baptists  ;  that  it 
is  expedient  to  make  immediate  arrangements  for  the  com- 
mencement of  a  school  where  the  learned  languages  and 
higher  branches  of  English  education  may  be  taught ;  that  a 
committee  of  three  be  appointed  to  make  inquiry  where  a 
classical  teacher  may  be  obtained  as  principal  of  said  school, 
who  shall  also  be  qualified  to  instruct  students  in  theology ; 
and  that  said  committee  be  Elder  George  Sedwick,  J.  McLeod 
and  Allen  Darrow ;  that  we  appoint  an  agent  to  travel  and 
present  the  object  of  the  institution,  and  collect  funds. 

As  a  site  for  the  college,  Granville  Baptists  had 
given  "  a  farm,  a  mile  and  a  half  southwest  of  the 
village,  estimated  to  be  worth  three  thousand  four 
huncfred  dollars."  The  subscription  made  on  the  oc- 
casion we  are  describing  by  members  of  the  society 
present,  amounted  to  forty-one  dollars.  The  deed  of 
the  farm,  as  given,  bore  date  June  2,  1831,  and  the 
charter  to  "  Granville  Literary  and  Theological  Insti- 
tution," granted  by  the  legislature  of  the  State,  Feb. 
3,   1832.1      In   1845,  the  "Granville  Literary   and 

1  For  the  interesting  particulars  given  in  the  text,  we  are  in- 


264    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Theological  Institution "  became  Granville  College, 
and  in  1856,  in  recognition  of  the  liberality  of  Hon. 
William  S.  Denison,  of  Adamsville,  Ohio,  who  had 
pledged  ten  thousand  dollars  to  the  endowment,  it  be- 
came Denison  University. 

The  following  record  of  the  absolute  beginning  at 
Granville,  w^e  find  in  the  ''Fifth  General  Catalogue 
of  Denison  University,  1893": 

Granville  Literary  and  Theological  Institution  was  organized 
at  Granville,  Ohio,  December  13,  1831,  with  thirty-seven 
students,  the  oldest  among  them  being  thirty-seven  years  of 
age,  and  the  youngest  eight.  Twenty-seven  of  them  were 
from  Granville,  and  all  but  two,  William  Whitney  and  Giles 
Peabody,  were  from  Ohio.  There  were  five  preachers  among 
them,  and  seven  .  .  .  were  Baptists.  In  the  second  quar- 
ter there  were  seventy  enrolled,  and  in  the  third,  seventy-two. 
The  college  building  was  the  small  Baptist  church,  whose 
walls  were  unplastered,  and  whose  benches  were  made  of  slabs. 
John  Pratt  was  the  sole  teacher.  In  such  a  humble  way  did 
Denison  University  get  the  start. 

Let  who  will  "  despise  the  day  of  small  things." 
In  such  a  record  as  this  there  is,  at  some  points  of 
view,  more  of  interest,  than  in  a  gift  of  millions  for 
the  endowment  of  a  single  great  school  sixty  years 
later,  when  the  mighty  wilderness  on  the  territory  of 
these  five  States  had  changed  to  fruitful  fields,  the 

debted  to  the  paper  by  Prof.  F.  W.  Shepardson,  before  cited, 
who  had  evidently  made  much  and  careful  examination  of  origi- 
nal documents.  We  are  the  more  minute  in  our  detail  here,  as 
it  is  of  much  interest  to  note  the  precise  circumstances  under 
which  the  first  incorporated  educational  institution  in  these  five 
States  came  into  existence. 


EDUCATION  26  5 

crude  beginnings  of  cities  had  grown  to  metropol- 
itan dimensions,  and  in  the  openings  offered  to  genius 
and  enterprise,  fortunes  were  made  in  a  day. 

The  "course"  of  educational  history,  especially  in 
the  case  of  institutions  like  the  one  here  in  view,  can 
never  with  reason  be  expected  to  "  run  smooth."  This 
at  Granville,  whether  as  a  literary  and  tiieological  insti- 
tution, as  college  or  as  university,  has  had  its  ordeals. 
But  its  supporters  have  been  loyal  to  it,  and  the  men 
to  whom  the  care  of  its  interests  was  committed  would 
seem  to  have  discharged  their  trust  not  only  with  fidel- 
ity, but  with  excellent  foresight  and  judgment.  Of 
those  who  have  been  instructors  there,  we  must  speak 
later,  also  of  the  goodly  dimensions  to  which,  as  an 
institution  of  the  first  class,  it  has  grown.  One  pas- 
sage in  this  history,  occurring  about  midway  of  the 
whole  period  covered  by  it,  we  must  give,  as  illus- 
trating methods  by  which  not  only  this,  but  other 
Western  institutions,  have  been  lifted  into  independ- 
ence. We  are  indebted  for  it  to  Rev.  F.  Clatworthy, 
in  a  letter  to  the  "  Standard,"  of  Chicago : 

It  was  in  1863,  that  Dr.  Tliresher  [Dr.  J.  B.  Thresher,  of 
Daj'ton,  one  of  the  most  efficient  friends  the  university  has 
ever  had]  at  a  State  Convention  in  Dayton,  made  a  thrilling 
speech,  urging  his  brethren  to  rally  around  the  college  at  Gran- 
ville, and  raise  for  it  an  endowment  of  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  Some  one  interrupted  him  while  speaking,  and  asked 
him  to  name  his  sum.  He  did  so,  and  the  little  ball  began  to 
roll.  Afterward,  as  his  great  heart  grew  warm  in  the  work, 
and  God  prospered  him,  he  increased  his  own  subscription  to 
five  times  the  original  sum.     He  enlisted  the  sympathy  of 


266    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

others.  Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  and  other  cities  joined  Dayton 
in  the  effort  at  endowment.  Fi-iends  of  the  college  multiplied. 
The  raising  of  the  first  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  was  a 
struggle,  but  it  was  accomplished.  April  24,  1S67,  witnessed 
complete  triumph.  Then  followed  another  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  then  another,  until  now  [188G]  the  fourth  is 
being  secured. 

Dr.  Thresher  may  represent  in  this  history  a  noble 
succession  of  men,  who  in  times  of  extremity  have 
rallied  the  friends  of  institutions  like  Denison  Uni- 
versity or  other  great  denominational  interests  in 
hours  of  peril,  and  with  leadership  in  giving,  as  well 
as  in  speech,  have  made  the  hour  of  danger  an  hour 
of  triumph. 

Turning  now  to  Illinois,  we  find  two  men  active 
there  in  a  like  interest,  John  M.  Peck  and  Hubell 
Loomis,  the  latter  having  already  appeared  among 
originators  of  the  educational  movement  in  Ohio. 

Dr.  Peck  himself  says,  in  a  letter  written  some 
years  later  to  General  Mason  Brayman  : 

In  1826,  when  not  a  single  academy  or  boarding  school  of 
any  kind  (except  the  Catholic  seminaries)  existed  in  Illinois  or 
Missouri,  I  went  to  the  Atlantic  States,  "on  my  own  hook" 
(to  use  a  Western  figure),  to  obtain  aid  in  the  establishment  of 
a  seminary.  Next  year,  1827,  the  building  and  institution 
known  as  Rock  Spring  Seminary  was  started.  .  .  During 
that  season  (1826)  I  visited  every  prominent  institution,  col- 
leges, high  schools,  etc. ,  in  my  range  of  travel,  to  learn  all  I 
could  of  their  system  of  management. 

An  incident  connected  with  these  proceedings  of 
Dr.  Peck  is  thus  related  : 


EDUCATION  207 

One  day  a  young  Presbyterian  minister,  Rev.  John  M.  Ellis, 
a  graduate  of  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  and  who 
had  then  recently  come  into  Illinois,  was  riding  on  horseback 
through  "  the  Sangamon  Country,"  as  the  region  here  in 
question  was  called.  As  he  was  making  his  way  over  the 
lonely  prairies,  interspersed  here  and  there  with  patches  of 
timber,  he  came  to  a  small  clearing  in  the  midst  of  hazels  and 
black-jacks,  and  was  arrested  in  his  progress  by  the  sound  of 
an  axe.  Observing  the  woodsman  more  nearly,  he  called  to 
him  with  the  question,  "What  are  you  doing  here,  stranger?  " 
"lam  building  a  theological  seminary."  "What,  in  these 
barrens?"  "Yes,  lam  planting  the  seed."  This  was  Dr. 
J.  M.  Peck,  founding  the  seminary  at  Rock  Spring.  Mr. 
Ellis  was  afterward  active  in  originating  the  Illinois  University 
(Congregational)  at  Jacksonville.^ 

Rev.  Hnbbell  Loomis  came  from  Ohio  to  Illinois  in 
1830.  His  interest  in  education,  shown  already  dur- 
ing his  residence  in  the  former  State,  was  unabated, 
dating  in  fact  from  his  experiences  as  a  teacher  in  New 
Enghmd,  where  from  the  beginning  education  was  so 
much  a  chief  concern.  Almost  immediately  steps 
were  taken  by  him  for  the  foundation  of  a  seminary 

1  "The  Baptists  and  the  National  Centenary,"  American  Bap- 
tist Publication  Society,  1876;  article,  "Home  Missions,"  p.  161. 
The  school  at  Rock  Spring  opened  Nov.  15,  1827.  Rev.  Joshua 
Bradley,  or  Connecticut,  and  of  whos(!  schoor  at  Middlotown, 
Ohio,  we  have  written  above,  was  principal,  and  Dr.  Peck  pro- 
fessor of  theology.  The  average  attendance  during  the  three 
years  of  continuance  of  the  school  was  forty  or  fifty.  The  last 
of  the  buildings  erected  there  was  burned  in  1852.  The  value  of 
the  property  removed  to  Upper  Alton  was  estimated  at  three 
hundred  or  four  hundred  dollars.  (These  particulars  were  given 
by  Dr.  G.  J.  Johnson  in  an  address  at  the  sixty-seventh  anni- 
versary of  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church,  near  Rock  Spring.) 


268    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

at  Upper  Alton,  where  he  had  made  his  home.  In 
1831,  Dr.  Going,  whose  visit  in  the  West  at  that  dale 
has  been  several  times  mentioned,  visited  both  Rooli 
Spring  and  Upper  Alton.  The  result  of  his  visit  and 
advice  was  the  selection  of  the  latter  place  as  the  site 
of  the  institution,  in  the  building  of  which  the  de- 
nomination in  Illinois  should  unite.  The  school  at 
Rock  Spring  was  closed,  and  the  proceeds  of  the  sale 
of  its  property  were  used  for  the  enlargement  of  that 
which  had  been  already  secured  at  Upper  Alton.  The 
seminary  there,  under  new  auspices,  opened  on  June 
4,  1832,  with  Rev.  Hubbell  Loomis  as  principal,  and 
Rev.  Lewis  Colby  as  professor  of  theology.  It  is 
clear  that  a  leading  purpose  in  the  enterprise  was  pro- 
vision for  the  education  of  a  Baptist  ministry  in  the 
State.  More  than  tiiis,  however,  or  than  a  merely 
academical  education  in  connection  with  it,  w^as  contem- 
plated. Almost  immediately  the  question  of  making 
the  seminary  a  college  was  advanced.  Dr.  Peck's  ac- 
count of  the  matter  is,  that  seven  gentlemen  "  formed 
a  compact  to  establish  a  college  to  be  under  the  super- 
vision of  Baptists,  and  engaged  in  a  written  obliga- 
tion to  advance  each  one  hundred  dollars,  which  was 
subsequently  increased  to  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five,  and  to  become  obligated  in  the  loan  of  eight  hun- 
dred dollars  more."  These  seven,  with  J.  M.  Peck, 
and  James  Lemen  added  in  1833,  and  wdth  the  name 
of  Hubbell  Loomis  first  upon  the  list,  were  the  origi- 
nal trustees. 

With  a  portion  of  the  sum  received,  as  just  noted, 


EDUCATION  269 

land  to  the  extent  of  one  luindrecl  and  twenty-two 
acres,  was  purchased  in  the  neighborhood  of  Upper 
Alton,  and  with  the  remainder  and  added  donations 
from  citizens  of  the  town,  a  building  was  erected. 
The  school,  under  its  new  auspices,  opened  with 
twenty-five  students.  Two  or  three  years  later,  a 
donation  of  ten  thousand  dollars  to  the  college  was 
made  by  Dr.  Benjamin  Shurtleif,  of  Boston,  Mass., 
and  in  recognition  of  this  gift,  in  that  day  a  generous 
one,  the  college  took  his  name,  and,  in  1835,  received 
from  the  legislature  a  charter  under  the  name  of  Shurt- 
leff  College.  In  the  charter,  as  originally  given,  the 
teaching  of  theology  was  forbidden,  but  in  1841  this 
restriction  was  removed. 

Baptist  educational  beginnings  in  Indiana  were  not 
far  removed,  in  point  of  date,  from  those  in  Ohio  and 
Illinois.  The  initiatory  step  was  the  organization  of 
an  education  society  in  1834,  following  quite  closely 
upon  that  of  the  General  Association,  and  by  the 
same  men.  Prominent  in  this  connection  are  the 
names  of  Dea.  Henry  Bradley,  Rev.  Ezra  Fisher, 
Rev.  Lewis  Morgan,  Rev.  William  Rees,  Rev.  J.  L. 
Richmond,  m.  d. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  organization  was  held  June 
5,  1835,  with  Rev.  Wm.  Rees  as  president,  and  Rev. 
Ezra  Fisher  as  secretary.  At  this  meeting  measures 
were  adopted  bringing  the  subject  of  education  to  the 
attention  of  Baptists  in  the  State.  Different  men 
were  appointed  to  write  articles  for  publication  in  the 
"  Cross  and  Journal,"  at  Cincinnati,  upon  such  sub- 


270    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

jects  as  the  following :  "  What  influence  ought  the 
Baptist  denomination  to  exert  upon  the  religious  and 
literary  world  ?  "  "  What  influence  do  we  exert  upon 
the  religious  and  literary  world  ?  "  "  What  influence 
do  we  exert  upon  the  religion  and  literature  of  our 
own  countiy  ?  "  "  The  importance  of  religious  edu- 
cation in  the  formation  of  the  character  of  our  youth." 
"  The  influence  of  an  enlightened  ministry  on  the  in- 
terests of  religion  in  general,  and  our  own  denomina- 
tion in  this  State  in  particular."  "  The  influence 
which  the  education  of  the  youth  of  our  own  denomi- 
nation would  exert  on  the  Baptists  of  Indiana." 
"  What  influence  would  a  Baptist  institution  of 
learning  exert  upon  our  denomination  in  Indiana  ?  " 
These  are  fundamental  questions,  and  show  that 
originators  of  educational  institutions  in  the  West 
aimed  from  the  beginning  at  effective  work. 

Steps  were  immediately  taken  for  the  erection  of 
an  institution  of  learning  with  these  ends  in  view. 
Results  in  the  earlier  years,  as  was  the  case  in  other 
States,  were  not  large.  Offers  of  location  for  the 
school  were  invited,  and  from  the  four  sites  named 
with  various  inducements,  Franklin  was  chosen,  and 
here  a  Manual  Labor  Institute  was  opened  in  1837. 
The  course  of  instruction  was  at  first  upon  a  limited 
scale.  Rev.  A.  F.  Tilton,  of  Deerfield,  N.  H.,  was 
chosen  principal,  and  associated  with  him  was  the 
gentleman  since  known  as  Hon.  W.  J.  Robinson,  and 
his  sister,  Miss  Julia  Robinson.    In  1840,  Mr.  Tilton 


EDUCATION  271 

resigned,  and  Rpv.  G.  C.  Chandler,  pastor  of  the  Bap- 
tist church  in  Indianapolis,  was  chosen  principal  in 
his  place.  In  1844  the  institute  was  chartered  as 
Franklin  College,  with  Dr.  Chandler  as  president. 
"He  did  royal  service,"  writes  President  Stott, 
"  teaching  and  preaching  through  the  State  till  1851, 
when  he  resigned,  to  go  to  Oregon.  Under  him 
seven  men  were  graduated  from  the  classical  course, 
the  first  in  1847,  John  M.  Dame,  at  this  writing 
(1895)  still  living.  The  finances,  all  this  time,"  it 
is  added,  ''  were  kept  up  by  agents  canvassing  for 
current  funds.  No  endowment  was  yet  gathered. 
In  1844  one  brick  building  was  erected." 

Dr.  Chandler  was  succeeded  in  the  presidency  by 
Rev.  Silas  Bailey,  d.  d.,  who  came  to  Franklin  in 
1852,  from  the  presidency  of  Granville  College,  Ohio. 
Of  him  President  Stott  says  :  "  He  v/as  a  scholarly 
man  and  an  able  preacher.  He  remained  in  the  pres- 
idency till  1862,  when  failing  health  compelled  him 
to  resign."  During  his  presidency,  another  brick 
building  was  erected,  and  considerable  progress  had 
been  made  in  obtaining  subscriptions  to  endowment. 
"  But  scholarships  were  sold  cheap,  the  subscriptions 
were  not  generally  paid,  and  so  the  finances  were  very 
meagre  ;  and  yet  the  faculty  was  composed  of  strong 
men,  such  as  Professors  Hougham,  Brand,  Bailey 
(Mark  Bailey,  brother  of  the  president),  and  Brum- 
bach. 

"  President  Bailey  graduated  twenty-one  men,  all 


272    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

in  the  classical  course  but  two.  Among  his  grad- 
uates were  Dr.  T.  J.  Morgan,  and  the  present  presi- 
dent and  treasurer  of  the  college.  The  war  came  on, 
and  nearly  all  the  young  men  were  in  the  field,  so  the 
college  was  closed,  and  remained  closed  until  1869." 
We  are  dealing  at  this  point  only  with  the  earlier 
history  of  education  in  these  several  States,  and  we 
pass  now  to  Michigan.  "  At  one  point  and  for  a  few 
years,"  writes  Prof  Daniel  Putnam,^  "  the  current  of 
State  education  and  one  of  our  own  streams  became 
intermingled  and  flow  along  with  some  ripplings  and 
interruptions.  The  Territorial  government  in  addi- 
tion to  its  legislation  in  regard  to  public  schools  and 
the  university,  framed  acts  of  incorporation  for  sev- 
eral academies  and  other  institutions  of  learning. 
Three  at  least  had  thus  been  provided  for  before  the 
year  1833.  In  that  year  more  were  incorporated. 
Among  these  was  the  Michigan  and  Huron  Institute, 
whose  charter  bears  date  August  22.  By  an  act  of 
legislature  of  the  State,  approved  March  21, 1837,  the 
name  was  changed  to  Kalamazoo  Literary  Institute. 
In  this  charter  our  collegiate  work  finds  its  starting 
point."  Prof.  Putnam  names  among  the  trustees  ap- 
pointed, "Caleb  Eldred,  John  Booth,  Thomas  W. 
Merrill,  John  S.  TAviss,  Stephen  Goodman,  and  C. 
H.  Lamb."  The  act  creating  the  institution  gives 
no  intimation  of  any  religious  or  denominational  pur- 

*  In  a  paper  read  at  the  Semi-Centennial  of  the  Michigan  Bap- 
tist State  Convention,  in  1886. 


EDUCATION  273 

pose  in  the  establishment  of  the  proposed  school.  The 
location  of  the  school  (at  first  the  Michigan  and  Hu- 
ron Institute)  at  Kalamazoo  occurred  in  1835,  the 
name  being  changed  two  years  later,  as  noted  above, 
to  Kalamazoo  Literary  Institute. 

The  school  was  at  first  conducted  as  a  branch  of 
the  State  University  at  Ann  Arbor,  and  was  partly 
supported  by  appropriations  from  the  treasury  of 
that  institution.  Dr.  J.  A.  B.  Stone,  first  of  the  prin- 
cipals to  hold  the  position  for  any  length  of  time,  was 
appointed  by  the  university  authorities.  "  This  anom- 
alous state  of  aifairs  terminated  at  about  the  close  of 
1846,  wlien  the  branches  were  all  given  up,  and  the 
resources  and  energies  of  the  university  were  con- 
centrated at  Ann  Arbor." 

An  active  agent  in  these  early  movements  for  edu- 
cation in  Michigan,  was  Rev.  T.  W.  Merrill,  of  whose 
zeal  in  behalf  of  education  we  have  already  had  occa- 
sion to  speak.  "  On  the  22d  of  November,"  writes 
Dr.  Haskell,  "Rev.  Thomas  W.  Merrill  alighted  from 
his  Canadian  racker  in  Ann  Arbor,  and  commenced 
a  classical  school.  A  few  months  before,  he  had  come 
preaching  in  the  wilderness,  an  emigrant  from  Maine 
and  a  fresh  graduate  from  Waterville  College  and 
New^ton  Theological  Seminaiy.  The  object  of  his 
coming,  as  he  then  wrote,  was  to  promote  the  intel- 
lectual as  well  as  the  moral  advancement  of  the 
people  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan."  ^ 

1  "Historical  Sketch  of  Kalamazoo  College,"  p.  3. 

S 


274    HISTORY  OF  P.ArTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Associated  with  Mr.  Merrill  was  Judge  Eldred, 
who  was^  at  the  time  mentioned,  "just  dragging  his 
surveyor's  chain  through  the  untrodden  grasses  and 
over  the  unbent  bushes  of  our  Western  prairies  and 
openings,  and  encamping  with  enthusiastic  admira- 
tion beneath  our  majestic  forests  and  beside  our  min- 
iature lakes."  ]\Ir.  Eldred  had  come  from  "where 
the  long  shadow  of  the  '  Hamilton '  of  Hascall  and 
of  Kendrick  had  swept  over  him. 

Michigan,  as  far  as  the  active  proceedings  of  these 
two  men  were  concerned,  was  in  point  of  time  quite 
in  line  with  the  other  three  States  already  noticed 
in  their  educational  history.  In  September,  1831, 
Mr.  Merrill  secured  letters  of  introduction  from  the 
Michigan  Baptist  Association,  meeting  at  Pontiac, 
and  proceeding  to  New  York,  having  received  the 
approval  of  the  New  York  State  Convention,  secured 
subscriptions  for  the  beginning  of  educational  work 
in  Michigan.  These  seven  names,  with  subscriptions 
of  ten  dollars  each,  are  "  ever-to-be-remembered 
names "  in  that  State :  Jonathan  Going,  Nathan 
Caswell,  James  Wilson,  John  H.  Harris,  Byron  O. 
Green,  William  Colgate,  and  E.  Withington.  "  This 
money  went  to  purchase  the  property  first  bought 
for  the  institute  in  Bronson,  now  Kalamazoo."  The 
act  of  legislature  incorporating  the  Michigan  and 
Huron  Institute  was  obtained  from  the  legislature 
after  repeated  petitions  to  that  eifect,  by  Mr.  Merrill 
and  his  associate,  Judge  Eldred. 


EDUCATION  275 

An  important  feature  of  the  liistor}-,  and  one  highly 
influential  in  determining  its  subsequent  course  was 
the  part  taken  by  the  Michigan  Baptist  State  Conven- 
tion. AVhen  the  Convention  was  organized  in  1836, 
the  school  founded  by  Mr.  Merrill  having  been 
already  three  years  in  operation,  the  following  reso- 
lution, reported  by  a  committee  on  the  subject,  was 
adopted  : 

1.  That  while  the  Convention  regard  with  pecuHar 
pleasure  the  early  and  liberal  efforts  to  establish  a  literary 
institution  in  Kalamazoo  County,  and  the  success  which 
has  attended  these  efTorts,  they  deem  it  important  that  a 
more  general  eflfort  be  made  to  establish,  as  soon  as  may 
be,  a  literary  institution  of  a  higher  character,  having  all 
the  incorporate  powers  of  a  college.  2.  That  for  that 
purpose  we  recommend  the  appointment  of  a  committee 
to  take  the  subject  into  consideration,  and  devise  the 
most  effectual  means  to  establish  such  an  institution  in 
the  most  eligible  situation  in  the  State.  3.  That  we  rec- 
ommend the  appointment  of  an  executive  committee  on 
education,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  devise  and  prosecute 
the  best  measures  for  securing  fimds  for  the  support  of 
ministerial  education,  and  also  to  seek  out  and  recom- 
mend to  the  regard  of  the  Convention  such  facilities  as 
may  exist  for  the  promotion  of  general  education. 

This  language,  as  Prof.  Putnam  says,  "  was  in  har- 
mony with  the  language  of  the  newly  adopted  con- 
stitution, enumerating  among  the  purposes  of  the  or- 
ganization, the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  education, 
especially  that  of  the  rising  ministry." 


276    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

The  committee  provided  for  in  the  resohition  was  : 
Rev.  Robert  Turnbull,  then  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Detroit,  Rev.  J.  Booth,  T.  W.  Merrill,  O.  Birdsall, 
W.  A.  Brown,  Hon.  Caleb  Eldred,  and  Deas.  Jones, 
Riggs,  and  Fish.  The  committee  was  instructed  to 
confer  with  the  committee  on  charter  for  the  Michigan 
and  Huron  Institute,  the  eifort  for  such  a  charter  be- 
ing still  pending.  Meantime  the  State  University 
had  been  founded  with  a  determination  on  the  part  of 
the  legislature  to  empower  no  other  institution  in  the 
State  to  grant  degrees.  This  put  a  check  on  efforts 
of  the  Convention  and  its  Board  toward  the  founding 
of  a  college.  The  Kalamazoo  Literary  Institute  re- 
mained the  Baptist  school,  being  viewed  as  a  branch 
of  the  State  University,  until,  as  before  stated,  the 
abandonment  of  that  policy  in  1846.  It  was  not 
until  1855  that  the  charter  of  the  institution  was  so 
amended  as  to  confer  college  powers.  In  that  year 
this  important  result  was  at  last  reached,  "  and  the 
corps  of  instructors  so  enlarged  as  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  the  college  course,  which  was  required  to 
be  of  as  high  a  grade  as  that  of  the  State  Univer- 
sity." 

During  all  this  long  waiting  period  of  eighteen 
years  from  the  date  at  which,  in  1837,  the  Michigan 
and  Huron  Institute  became  the  Kalamazoo  Literary 
Institute,  the  convention  continued,  without  abate- 
ment, its  fostering  care.  The  school  was  made  to 
serve  for  the  education  of  both  sexes ;  Dr.  Stone, 


EDUCATION  277 

after  he  became  principal,  having  the  co-operation  of 
his  accomplished  wife,  a  separate  department  for  young 
women  being  created,  under  her  care,  after  the  insti- 
tute became  a  college.  The  interest  of  the  Conven- 
tion, however,  was  very  much  in  behalf  of  ministerial 
education,  and  this  purpose  Avas  kept  steadily  in  view 
in  all  its  measures.  In  1845  the  Convention  resolved 
''  that  the  time  has  fully  come  when  the  interests  of 
the  Redeemer's  cause  in  this  State  require  us  to  take 
immediate  measures  for  the  theological  education 
of  pious  young  men  for  the  gospel  ministry." 

The  Board  of  the  Convention  "  was  instructed  to 
establish  a  theological  institute  as  soon  as  the  requi- 
site funds  could  be  obtained.  A  preference  was  ex- 
pressed for  Kalamazoo  as  a  location  for  the  school, 
but  the  Board  was  left  with  liberty  to  select  another 
place  if  they  should  find  good  cause  for  doing  so." 
During  the  following  year,  1846,  land  to  the  amount 
of  forty  acres  was  secured  at  Kalamazoo.  The  Lit- 
erary Institute  had,  at  the  time  of  its  removal  to  Kal- 
amazoo and  change  of  name,  secured  other  land  at  a 
cost  of  $2,500,  amounting  to  over  one  hundred  acres. 
This  property,  when  the  Convention  took  the  educa- 
tional interests  of  Baptists  in  the  State  under  its  care, 
had  been  transferred  to  it.  Sales  of  this  land  were 
now,  in  1846,  made,  and  with  the  proceeds  a  building 
erected  for  the  uses  of  a  theological  seminary,  the  in- 
stitute under  this  arrangement  being  a  joint  occu- 
pant. 


278    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

At  first  the  work  of  the  Literary  Institute  was 
carried  on  independently,  the  Convention  having 
charged  itself  with  that  of  theological  instruction 
only ;  Dr.  Stone,  principal  of  the  institute,  being 
made  professor  of  biblical  literature  and  theology, 
and  in  1851  Rev.  Samuel  Graves,  professor  of  Greek 
in  the  institute  and  of  systematic  theology  in  the 
seminary.  The  desire  being  strongly  felt  that  the 
work  should  be  more  unified,  that  result  was  secured 
in  the  abandonment  of  the  male  department  of  the 
institute  and  its  transfer  to  the  Convention,  with  an 
agreement  on  the  part  of  the  latter  to  sustain  a  thor- 
ough literary  and  scientific  course  of  instruction  ex- 
tending over  not  less  than  four  years.  The  depart- 
ment of  the  institute  for  young  women  was  continued 
as  a  distinct  school,  though  under  the  same  general 
supervision,  with  Mrs.  Stone  as  its  principal. 

In  1855,  as  before  stated,  the  institute  became  a 
college,  and  regular  college  work  as  well  as  instruc- 
tion in  theology  and  the  education  of  young  women 
made,  so  far,  a  complete  curriculum.  A  separate 
building  was  provided  for  the  young  ladies'  school, 
which  enjoyed  much  prosperity  under  the  direction  of 
Mrs.  Stone  and  her  associates. 

Efforts  for  securing  an  endowment  for  the  semi- 
nary had  in  the  meantime  been  in  progress,  though 
with  only  partial  results.  In  the  building  and  gen- 
eral expenses,  also,  a  debt  had  been  incurred,  amount- 
ing to  $30,000,  and  this  was  for  some  years  felt  as  a 


EDUCATION  2  7 'J 

serious  burden.  In  1864—65,  however,  a  united  and 
determined  elfort  was  made  to  remove  this  debt,  re- 
sulting in  a  triumphant  success.  Of  the  subsequent 
history  of  the  seminary  Prof.  Putnam  writes  : 

In  1851-52  the  faculty  of  the  theological  seminary  was 
composed  of  Dr.  J.  A.  B.  Stone  and  Dr.  S.  Graves.  The 
names  of  five  theological  students  appear  in  the  catalogue  of 
that  year.  A  considerable  number  of  others  having  the 
ministry  in  view  were  enrolled  in  the  literary  department. 
In  1854^55  the  faculty  numbered  three  and  the  students 
in  the  theological  department  had  increased  to  fifteen. 
Some  of  those  were  also  reckoned  in  the  first  senior  class  of 
the  newly  organized  college.  The  next  year  the  number  of 
students  had  fallen  to  nine.  Gradually  in  the  succeeding 
years,  the  theological  department,  in  respect  to  students, 
exhibited  with  some  variations  a  constant  decline.  The 
strictly  theological  work  ceased  after  about  1858-51). 

We  pass  over  the  years  that  follow,  leaving  for  sub- 
sequent mention  personal  details  as  to  those  charged 
with  the  work  of  instruction  at  Kalamazoo.  For 
what  concerns  the  issue  of  relations  with  the  State 
Convention,  we  are  indebted  to  Dr.  Haskell,  whose 
communication  in  that  regard  we  copy  in  full : 

In  1889  the  entire  site  and  ])uildings,  of  which  the  title 
had  been  in  the  Convention,  was  conveyed  to  the  college 
Board  in  trust,  in  consideration  of  a  specified  sum  to  be 
paid  annually  in  tuition  of  students  for  the  ministiy. 
Thus  the  mixed  proprietorship  of  former  years  gave  place 
to  the  single  one  of  the  college. 


280    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

In  1892,  $100,000  was  raised  by  general  subscription  as 
an  addition  to  the  endowment,  making  the  productive 
endowment  sometliing  over  $200,000.  The  college  site  is 
an  elevated  grove  of  over  twenty  acres,  lying  within  the 
west  boundary  of  the  city,  and  overlooking  a  fine  pros- 
pect of  city  and  valley.  Three  spacious  and  substantial 
buildings  furnish  a  dormitory,  library,  and  society  rooms 
for  young  men,  a  ladies'  boarding  hall,  and  chapel  and 
recitation  rooms  for  common  use.  For  studies  in  the 
theological  course,  the  State  Convention  and  liberal  friends 
co-operate  in  the  Divinity  School  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,  and  in  aid  of  students  in  other  seminaries. 

We  have  next  to  narrate  the  history  of  the  institu- 
tion now  known  as  "  The  Old  University  of  Chi- 
cago/' an  institution  whose  annals,  written  in  full, 
cover  a  period  of  some  thirty  years,  a  period  of  na- 
tional ordeal  and  disaster,  in  the  effects  of  which  the 
university  necessarily  shared.  In  spite  of  the  unfor- 
tunate issue,  which,  however,  has  seemed  after  all 
almost  like  a  providential  preparation  for  what  should 
be  larger  in  scope  and  capable  of  larger  things,  there 
is  much  in  that  history  to  be  recalled  with  grateful 
satisfaction.  The  work  of  instruction  in  the  univer- 
sity was  always  of  the  best  quality,  and  gave,  not 
only  to  the  Christian  pulpit,  but  to  all  the  learned 
professions  and  various  spheres  of  business  life, 
trained  men  whose  subsequent  career  has  conferred 
honor  upon  the  institution  and  its  instructors.  They 
have  cherished,  even  in  times  when  the  university  was 
under  a  cloud,  the  warmest  respect  for  those  who  had 


EDUCATION  281 

been  their  teachers,  and  were  of  those  who  most  sin- 
cerely lamented  the  calamitous  issue  of  a  history 
which  for  them  had  meant  so  much. 

The  university  owed  its  origin  instrumentally  to  two 
men,  Hon.  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  then  United  States 
Senator,  and  John  C.  Burroughs,  at  that  time  pastor 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Chicago.  Mr.  Douglas 
had,  a  short  time  before,  been  left  a  widower  by  the 
death  of  a  wife  to  whom  he  was  deeply  attached.  She 
was  a  Baptist,  a  member  of  the  church  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  of  which  Dr.  G.  W.  Samson  was  then 
pastor.  It  was  understood  to  have  been  the  earnest 
desire  of  Mrs.  Douglas  that  her  husband  should  in 
some  way  render  service  to  the  denomination  whose 
interests  she  warmly  cherished,  and  in  this  she  was 
influentially  seconded  by  her  pastor.  Mr.  Douglas 
had  proposed  a  donation  of  land  near  what  was 
then  the  southern  limit  of  Chicago,  as  the  site  for  a 
university  to  be  under  the  general  auspices  of  some 
denomination  of  Christians.  An  attempt  was  made 
by  the  Presbyterians  to  meet  the  conditions  of  the 
proposal.  Upon  the  failure  of  this,  Mr.  Burroughs, 
jointly  with  Hon.  Thomas  Hoyne,  Hon.  Charles 
Walker,  and  other  friends  of  Mr,  Douglas,  took  the 
matter  up.  In  the  year  1856,  or  about  that  date,  he 
visited  Mr.  Douglas  in  Washington,  and  with  the  co- 
operation of  Dr.  Samson,  secured  for  the  Baptists  an 
oifer  of  the  proposed  donation. 

The  terms  of  the  oflPer  were,  in  substance,  these : 


282  HISTORY  OF  baptists  in  western  states 

The  university  was  to  be  founded,  built,  and  carried 
on  under  the  care  and  general  direction  of  the  de- 
nomination of  American  Baptists.  It  was  to  provide 
means  of  good  education  in  all  branches  of  collegiate 
instruction.  With  a  view  to  secure  the  contemplated 
denominational  feature,  it  was  agreed  that  the  presi- 
dent of  the  university  and  two-thirds  of  the  trustees 
should  always  be  Baptists.  The  religious  tenets  of 
no  one  denomination  of  Christians,  however,  were 
to  form  any  part  of  the  course  of  study,  and  the 
appointment  of  members  of  the  faculty  other  than 
the  president,  was  to  be  without  religious  conditions 
or  tests  of  any  kind.  It  was  also  provided  in  the 
deed  of  gift  made  to  Mr.  Burroughs  in  trust  for  the 
purpose  named  that  within  one  year  a  building  to  cost 
not  less  than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  should  be 
erected,  upon  the  completion  of  which  a  deed  in  quit- 
claim should  be  given  of  the  site  donated  ;  also  that 
the  property  should  never  be  mortgaged,  nor  its  use 
in  perpetuity  for  the  purposes  named  in  any  way  en- 
dangered. 

Returning  to  Chicago,  Mr.  Burroughs  secured  the 
acceptance  of  these  conditions  by  representative  Bap- 
tists, by  whom  also  it  was  resolved  that  measures  be 
immediately  adopted  for  founding  an  institution  of 
learning  to  be  called  the  University  of  Chicago.  A 
charter  of  incorporation  was  secured  from  the  legis- 
lature of  Illinois  and  a  Board  of  Trustees  chosen. 
Among  these  we  may  name  the  following :    Hon. 


EDUCATION  283 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  who  was  also  the  first  presi- 
dent of  the  Board ;  Hon.  Wm.  B.  Ogden,  Charles 
Walker,  L.  D.  Boone,  M.  c,  William  Jones,  Sam- 
uel Hoard,  Thomas  Hoyne,  Esq.,  J.  A.  Smith,  K. 
H.  Clarkson,  D.  D.,  an  Episcopal  clergyman ;  J.  H. 
AVoodworth,  J.  Y.  Scammon,  T.  B.  Bryan,  J.  K. 
Burtis,  Cyrus  Bentley,  Esq.  ;  as  resident  elsewhere 
than  in  Chicago  :  Senator  J.  B.  Doolittle,  of  Racine, 
Wis. ;  W.  D.  Bacon,  Waukesha,  Wis.  Of  others 
added  later  we  may  name :  O.  W.  Barrett,  C.  N. 
Holden,  W.  W.  Everts,  d.  d.,  George  C.  Walker, 
and  E.  Nelson  Blake. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Olcott,  a  man  of  marked  efficiency  in 
agency  sendee,  was  secured  to  co-operate  with  Mr. 
Burroughs  in  the  work  of  securing  subscriptions  to- 
ward endowment  and  for  other  purposes.  The  pro- 
posal for  founding  such  an  institution  Avas  received 
with  marked  ftivor,  in  both  city  and  country,  and  by 
October  1,  1856,  the  subscriptions  and  pledges  were 
reported  at  one  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  and  in 
1857,  when  the  grammar  school  of  the  university 
opened,  the  subscription  stood  at  somewhat  above  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Instruction  began  in  the  basement  of  the  Univer- 
salist  church,  on  Wabash  avenue.  Prof.  L.  R.  Satter- 
lee,  who  had  acquired  much  distinction  as  principal 
of  one  of  the  leading  public  schools  in  Rochester,  N. 
Y.,  had  been  invited  to  connect  himself  with  this  new 
enterprise,  and  under  his  special  charge,  as  principal 


284    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

of  the  grammar  school  of  the  university,  the  work 
began.  It  soon  became  evident  that  the  accommoda- 
tions provided  could  not  be  made  adequate,  and  the 
attention  of  the  trustees  was  directed  to  the  necessity 
for  securing  better  and  permanent  ones.  The  deed  of 
gift  besides,  required  in  one  of  its  conditions  the  erec- 
tion of  a  building  at  a  specified  cost  and  within  a 
specified  time.  Unhappily,  the  financial  condition  of 
the  country  was  very  discoun>ging.  Chicago  and  the 
West  were  feeling  the  strain  in  a  degree  certainly  not 
less  than  was  true  in  any  other  quarter.  Although 
subscriptions  had  been  obtained  ample  for  the  purpose 
of  building,  collections  upon  these,  in  such  circum- 
stances, were  found  impracticable  to  any  such  extent 
as  even  a  moderately  planned  building  enterprise 
would  require. 

The  whole  case  as  it  stood,  was  laid  before  Mr. 
Douglas,  then  on  a  visit  to  Chicago.  A  loan  upon 
the  property  could  not,  of  course,  be  secured  until 
a  deed  had  been  given,  and  the  conditions  required 
in  order  to  secure  this  could  not,  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances, be  met.  Mr.  Douglas  generously  waived 
the  conditions  so  made  and  gave  to  the  trustees  a  deed 
of  the  property,  consenting  also,  as  was  understood, 
that  a  loan  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  should 
be  made,  with  a  mortgage  upon  the  university  site 
as  security. 

The  circumstances,  as  here  indicated,  were  believed 
to  justify  this  measure.     It  was  also  quite  in  the  line 


EDUCATION  285 

of  what  had  become  customary  in  the  West,  in  the 
building  of  churches  and  for  other  purposes.  It  was 
held  to  be  expedient  and  right  to  anticipate  resources 
as  likely  to  become  more  available  in  the  rapid  de- 
velopment going  forward  in  many  directions,  and  to 
meet  deficiency  of  present  means  by  loans  based  upon 
such  hopes.  The  future  was  to  teach  many  a  sharp 
and  salutary  lesson  in  this  regard,  but  the  policy  we 
indicate  was  deemed  at  the  time  a  safe  one,  even  by 
far-sighted  men.  The  University  of  Chicago  was 
destinwl  to  be  perhaps  the  greatest  sufferer  of  all ; 
but  its  policy  was  by  no  means  an  exceptional  one. 
A  loan  accordingly  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars 
was  secured  from  the  Union  Mutual  Life  Insurance 
Company  of  Maine,  and  with  this  a  building  was 
erected,  afterward  known  as  the  south  wing  of  the 
group  as  planned.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  the 
fourth  of  July,  1857,  Senator  Douglas  presiding,  a 
large  concourse  of  people  from  city  and  country  being 
present.  There  were  addresses  by  Mr.  Douglas,  by 
Rev.  A.  J.  Joslyn,  of  Elgin,  Hon.  I.  N.  Arnold, 
Rev.  Robert  Boyd,  then  pastor  of  the  Edina  Place 
Baptist  Church,  Chicago,  and  by  others.  In  the 
autumn  of  1858  the  new  building  was  occupied  In 
1866  the  large  and  handsome  central  building  was 
erected,  while  Rev.  M.  G.  Clark  held  the  position  of 
financial  secretar}^,  additional  loans  to  a  considerable 
amount  for  the  purpose  being  necessary,  in  addition 
to  all  that  could  be  made  available  in  other  ways. 


286    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

The  presidency  of  the  university  had  been  offered 
very  soon  after  its  incorporation  to  Mr.  Burroughs. 
Although  the  vote  was  unanimous,  and  the  position  an 
inviting  one  in  many  ways,  it  was  his  own  judgment 
that  some  man  in  the  denomination,  known  through- 
out the  country  as  an  educator,  should  be  secured  if 
possible.  Correspondence  with  such  gentlemen  at  the 
East,  and  personal  visits  to  some  of  them,  proving 
unavailing,  Mr.  Burroughs  finally  accepted  the  presi- 
dency and  entered  upon  its  duties.  The  term  of 
eighteen  years  during  which  he  held  that  office  were 
years  of  fierce  ordeal  for  other  interests  as  well  as  for 
those  committed  to  his  care.  Two  or  three  years  after 
the  university  had  fully  entered  upon  its  work  came 
the  Civil  War,  preceded  by  growing  agitations  which 
almost  wholly  preoccupied  the  public  mind.  While 
the  effects  of  the  war  were  still  much  felt,  Chicago 
was  burned  well-nigh  to  the  ground  by  the  great  fire 
of  1871.  Among  those  who  suffered  most  heavily 
were  men  who  had  been,  and  still  were,  the  main 
reliance  of  the  university.  In  the  meantime  it  had 
been  found  difficult,  perhaps  impossible,  to  even  meet 
the  interest  upon  loans  made,  while  demand  for  en- 
largement of  teaching  force  in  the  university  made 
the  current  expense  each  year  harder  to  obtain.  The 
history  which  followed  need  not  and  cannot  here  be 
narrated  in  detail.  It  was  a  struggle  against  the  in- 
evitable, with  division  in  the  councils  of  the  univer- 
sity such  as  is  by  no  means  unexampled  in  like  cir- 


EDUCATION  287 

cumstances.  The  issue,  so  far,  was  the  resignation  of 
Dr.  Burroughs  in  1875,  after  a  service  in  the  presi- 
dency of  some  eighteen  years.  A  review  of  that 
period  now,  after  such  a  lapse  of  time  since  the  events 
described,  impresses  one  acquainted  with  the  facts, 
that  Dr.  Burroughs  had  proved  himself  an  instructor, 
a  leader,  and  an  administrator  of  marked  ability,  of 
courage,  patience,  and  resource.  The  affection  and 
honor  in  which  his  memory  has  been  since  cherished 
by  those  who  were  his  pupils,  and  by  those  who  kncAV 
him  in  such  relations  as  to  reveal  the  man  as  he  truly 
was,  are  personal  tributes  whose  emphasis  is  not  to  be 
doubted. 

Pending  the  election  of  a  successor,  the  duties  of 
the  presidency  were  discharged  by  President  G.  W. 
Northrup,  of  the  theological  seminary.  With  the 
opening  of  the  next  university  year.  Dr.  Lemuel 
Moss  was  chosen  to  the  office  and  entered  at  once 
upon  service.  In  the  class-room,  in  the  general 
administration  of  university  affairs,  on  public  occa- 
sions when  his  power  as  a  thinker  and  an  orator  had 
opportunity  to  become  known,  and  in  the  relations  of 
society  and  of  personal  friendship.  Dr.  Moss  won 
during  the  year  of  his  presidency  a  degree  of  honor 
and  esteem  w^hich  made  his  retirement  from  the  office 
at  the  end  of  the  year  matter  of  deep  regret.  An  ad- 
justment had  in  the  meantime  been  made  by  which 
Dr.  Burroughs  became  chancellor  of  the  university, 
charged  especially  with  its  financial  administration. 


288    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

During  the  year  following  the  retirement  of  Dr. 
Moss,  ex-Senator  J.  R.  Doolittle,  of  Racine,  was 
associated  with  Dr.  Burroughs,  in  the  position  of  act^ 
ing  president.  The  choice  of  the  Board  finally  fixed 
upon  Hon.  Alonzo  Abernethy,  who  had  studied  at  the 
university,  and  after  a  conspicuous  service  in  the  Civil 
War  had  filled  with  honor  the  office  of  superintendent 
of  public  instruction  in  the  State  of  Iowa.  Mr.  Aber- 
nethy held  the  presidency  during  two  years,  facing 
the  difficulties  of  the  situation,  which  had  already 
become  well-nigh  hopeless,  in  a  manly  spirit,  and  dis- 
charging with  recognized  ability  the  duties  of  the 
office.  At  the  end  of  two  years  Mr.  Abernethy  re- 
signed the  presidency.  Dr.  Burroughs  also  resigned 
as  chancellor,  and  that  office  was  abolished. 

Upon  Mr.  Abernethy' s  resignation  Dr.  Galusha 
Anderson,  the  pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church, 
Chicago,  in  1878^  accepted  the  presidency.  In  the 
circumstances  as  they  then  stood,  this  was  on  his  part 
an  act  of  no  small  courage  and  self-sacrifice.  Look- 
ing back,  now,  upon  the  situation  as  it  then  was,  one 
can  see  that  success  in  effiDrts  to  save  the  university 
was  not  to  be  hoped  for.  The  complications  and  dif- 
ficulties, especially  in  the  loss  of  public  confidence, 
were  more  formidable  than  was  even  then  apparent. 
Dr.  Anderson  did  all  that  man  could  do  toward  a  re- 
covery to  the  university  of  the  confidence  and  sym- 
pathy which,  not  with  entire  justice  it  must  be  said, 
had  been  withdrawn.     He  gained  support  in  meeting 


EDUCATION  289 

present  emergencies  on  the  part  of  leading  citizens  of 
Chicago,  and  their  counsel  in  the  difficult  circum- 
stances which  from  time  to  time  arose.  Early  in  his 
administration  he  eifected  the  payment  of  a  floating 
debt  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  fully  re-establishing  the 
credit  of  the  university  in  the  city,  and  covering 
without  accrument  of  arrears  the  current  expense  of 
each  year.  While  discharging  with  great  ability  the 
customary  duties  of  his  office,  he  led  in  all  measures 
for  the  relief  of  the  existing  embarrassment.  Nego- 
tiations with  the  creditor,  however,  proved  unavail- 
ing, the  financial  pressure  grew  steadily  worse,  an 
effort  to  secure  better  terms  of  adjustment  through 
appeal  to  one  of  the  courts  of  law  resulted  in  a  fore- 
closure of  the  mortgage,  in  which  the  ownership  of 
the  property  passed  to  the  creditor.  Dr.  Anderson 
then  resigned  his  presidency,  after  a  service  of  seven 
years  and  eight  months,  leaving  the  conviction  in 
the  minds  of  those  best  acquainted  with  the  facts 
that  all  which  sagacity,  resolution,  heroic  persistence 
in  the  face  of  hopeless  obstacles  could  do,  had  been 
done  to  save  the  university  to  the  denomination  and 
to  the  cause  of  good  education.  Emphatic  mention 
should  be  made  of  the  educational  work  of  the  uni- 
versity, particularly  in  these  its  last  days.  Sustained 
in  the  department  by  such  men  as  Profs.  Howe,  Ol- 
son, Stuart,  Riggs,  and  Butler,  Dr.  Anderson  was 
privileged  to  see  the  classes  always  fully  maintained 
and   indeed    much    advanced.      Quite   one-half    as 

T 


290    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

many  men  were  graduated  during  his  administra- 
tion as  in  all  the  previous  years  of  the  university — 
one  year  a  class  of  twenty-six,  many  of  them  highly 
superior  men. 

It  should  be  said  that  the  measures  adopted  by  Dr. 
Anderson  in  the  final  emergency  had  been  under  ad- 
vice of  such  members  of  the  Board  of  Regents  as  he 
could  get  together  for  consultation.  This  was  a  body 
provided  for  in  the  charter,  and  composed  of  State 
officials  and  other  eminent  citizens,  and  was  charged 
especially  with  the  care  of  the  property.  The  re- 
gents were  proper  persons  to  advise  in  the  case,  and 
under  their  advice  President  Anderson  acted  in  the 
steps  taken  by  him  with  a  view  to  bring  the  indebted- 
ness of  the  university  into  such  a  shape  as  that  there 
might  be  reasonable  hope  of  its  discharge. 

Although  the  university  site  and  buildings  had  now 
become  the  property  of  the  creditor,  permission  of 
continued  occupancy  was  allowed.  Dr.  Geo.  C. 
Lorimer,  of  the  Immanuel  Baptist  Church,  Chicago, 
was  invited  to  the  presidency,  and  to  leadership  in  a 
fresh  etfort  to  save  the  university.  He  could  not, 
however,  leave  his  pastorate,  and  after  a  year  of  such 
service  in  the  presidency  as  other  duties  would  per- 
mit, he  declined  further  incumbency.  Consultation 
was  then  had  with  Dr.  W.  R.  Harper,  at  the  time 
Professor  of  Hebrew  and  New  Testament  Interpre- 
tation in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Morgan  Park, 
with  the  thought  of  making  still  one  more  effort  to 


EDUCATION  291 

enlist  friends  in  behalf  of  the  doomed  institution. 
Though  olfered  the  presidency  by  the  trustees  with 
this  thought,  he  found  it  necessary  to  decline.  As 
the  time  drew  near  for  the  university  to  open,  in  the 
autumn  of  1887,  the  trustees  decided  that  they  could 
not  longer  assume  responsibility  for  the  expenses  of 
instruction.  The  faculty  of  the  university  opened 
an  academy,  in  the  hope  of  holding  some  of  the  stu- 
dents till  there  should  be  further  developments.  At 
the  end  of  the  year  they  decided  to  seek  other  posi- 
tions, and  the  University  of  Chicago  finally  ceased 
to  exist. 

Early  in  the  history  of  the  university  a  building 
for  an  astronomical  observatory  had  been  erected  by 
Hon.  J.  Y.  Scammon,  attached  to  the  main  central 
edifice.  The  building  cost  thirty  thousand  dollars, 
and  bore  the  name  of  the  Dearborn  Observatory, 
after  the  family  name  of  Mr.  Scammon's  wife.  The 
astronomical  instruments  were  purchased  by  an  as- 
tronomical society  in  Chicago,  organized  for  the  pur- 
pose under  the  leadership  of  Hon.  Thomas  Hoyne 
and  other  gentlemen.  To  this  society  the  instruments 
belonged,  and  some  time  after  the  failure  of  the  uni- 
versity became  the  property  of  the  Northwestern 
University,  Methodist,  at  Evanston.  A  law  school 
was  also  established  at  an  early  date  and  for  many 
years  was  prosperously  carried  on,  with  Hon.  Henry 
Booth  as  dean.  This,  upon  the  final  issue  of  the  his- 
tory we  have  narrated,  passed  also  to  other  hands. 


292    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Only  for  what  we  have  yet  to  tell  of  educational  en- 
terprise with  Chicago  as  a  center,  there  would  be  no 
comfort  fur  the  sorrow  with  which  it  must  be  said, 
that  of  the  stately  building  so  long  occupied  by  the 
University  of  Chicago  there  now  remains  "  not  so 
much  as  one  stone  upon  another." 

One  other  college  in  the  State  of  Illinois  remains 
for  mention  in  this  history.  In  1867,  on  Christmas 
day  of  that  year,  the  Ewing  High  School  was  opened 
at  Ewing,  in  Southern  Illinois.  The  first  principal 
was  Rev.  John  Washburn,  D.  D.  Six  and  a  half 
years  later,  in  May,  1874,  a  collegiate  department 
was  added,  and  the  institution  has  since  been  known 
as  Ewing  College.  Dr.  Washburn  remained  as  presi- 
dent until  1890,  with  brief  intervals  of  cessation, 
during  which  Rev.  J.  W.  Patton,  1875-1876,  and 
Rev.  Wm.  Shelton,  d.  d.,  1877-1880  occupied  the 
position.  Dr.  Washburn  at  the  close  of  these  periods 
resumed  the  incumbency,  and  in  the  second  instance 
continued  in  office  until  his  final  retirement  in  1890. 

At  the  date  last  named  Rev.  J.  A.  Leavitt,  who 
had  been  for  some  years  in  the  Sunday-school  ser- 
vice of  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society,  in 
Illinois,  and  previous  to  this  had  rendered  good  ser- 
vice in  important  pastorates,  was  chosen  president. 
From  the  time  of  this  change  the  college  dates  a 
more  rapid  growth,  its  value  becoming  more  highly 
appreciated  by  the  people  of  Southern  Illinois,  in 
whose  interest  it  had  been  principally   founded — 


EDUCATION  293 

pupils  multiplying,  and  means  of  enlargement  being 
supplied. 

The  college  has  at  present,  1894-95,  five  buildings, 
three  of  them  being  occupied  in  its  class-room  work. 
Of  these  three  the  first  was  erected  in  1869,  the 
second  in  1874,  and  the  third,  named  Willard  Hall, 
in  honor  of  Captain  Willard,  a  generous  friend  of 
the  college,  in  1891-93.  One  of  the  older  of  the 
five  buildings  was,  in  1893-94,  changed  to  a  three- 
story  dormitory  for  boys,  receiving  the  name  Wake- 
man  Hall,  as  a  tribute  of  gratitude  to  Mrs.  S.  A. 
Wakeman,  whose  liberal  gifts  had  aided  much  in 
promoting  the  growth  and  usefulness  of  the  institu- 
tion. 

A  cottage  for  the  occupancy  of  young  ladies  was 
also  planned  in  the  summer  of  1894,  the  means  for 
the  purpose  being  chiefly  furnished  by  Mr.  Wm.  H. 
Hudelson,  whose  name  the  building  was  to  bear. 

In  1893  the  college  received  from  Mrs.  Wakeman 
means  for  making  large  additions  to  its  chemical, 
physiological,  and  philosophical  apparatus,  with  a 
fine  geological  cabinet,  "  containing  thousands  of 
specimens,  collected  from  all  parts  of  the  world." 

The  college  has  three  libraries,  the  college  refer- 
ence library,  and  two  others  belonging  to  the  socie- 
ties. 

Ewing  College  is  an  example  of  the  valuable  ser- 
vice in  education  done  by  the  smaller  institutions, 
with  limited  means,  yet  with  methods  of  teaching 


294    HISTORY  OF  BAl'TISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

judiciously  adopted.  The  region  of  country  in  the 
midst  of  which  it  stands  is  mainly  agricultural,  and 
the  students  come  largely  from  the  farms  and  are 
accordingly  less  eager  for  the  kind  of  education 
which  fits  for  professional  life.  The  college  is  all 
the  more  a  beneficent  instrument  in  promoting  gene- 
ral culture  and  inspiring  truer  ideals  of  life  and 
duty.  Its  resources  in  the  matter  of  endowment  are 
limited,  yet  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  better 
times  are  awaiting  it  in  this  particular. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

EDUCATION COLLEGIATE 

II 

rpHE  States  of  the  West,  in  common  with  other 
-*-  sections  of  the  country,  were  interested  in  an 
educational  measure,  entered  upon  in  the  year  1868, 
which  looked  toward  large  results.  Reference  is 
made  to  the  American  Baptist  Educational  Commis- 
sion, organized  in  New  York  in  the  year  named, 
with  Rev.  Sewall  S.  Cutting,  d.  d.,  as  its  secretary 
and  chief  executive. 

The  movement  originated  witli  Dr.  Cutting,  and 
had  in  view  objects  of  great  importance.  One  of 
these  was,  that  the  commission  might  serve  as  a  me- 
dium of  communication  between  needy  institutions 
of  learning,  or  those  engaged  in  the  founding  of  such 
institutions,  and  men  of  wealth,  or  others,  whose  in- 
terest it  might  be  thought  desirable  to  enlist  in  their 
behalf.  Still  another  purpose  was  that  of  counsel 
with  those  in  charge  of  colleges  and  schools  already 
existing,  especially  in  the  newer  States,  where  counsel 
should  be  needed  and  sought,  witli  a  view  to  the  pro- 
motion of  educational  harmony  and  co-operation. 

Among  the  methods  adopted  was  the  appointment 

295 


296    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

of  advisoiy  committees,  one  of  which  was  located  in 
the  West,  at  Chicago,  and  much  was  accomplished 
through  this  agency  in  behalf  of  the  purposes  named. 
Perhaps  the  most  important  result  was  the  enlarged 
and  more  intelligent  interest  awakened  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  education  in  general,  with  conviction  of  the 
importance  of  larger  outlay  in  this  behalf,  especially 
on  new  fields.  Conventions  in  which  representative 
men  from  different  parts  of  the  country  participated, 
were  held  in  Brooklyn,  Philadelphia,  and  Chicago, 
with  resulting  effects  whose  full  benefit  was  to  be 
realized  later. 

The  Educational  Commission  failed  of  permanency 
as  a  distinctive  organization.  The  general  idea  repre- 
sented in  it,  however,  found  embodiment  some  years 
later  in  another,  upon  a  different  plan,  the  American 
Baptist  Education  Society,  the  creation  of  which,  in 
1888,  was  an  event  of  great  significance  for  the 
West,  as  for  other  sections  of  the  republic. 

In  the  previous  year  the  subject  of  such  an  organi- 
zation was  brought  to  the  attention  of  representa- 
tives of  the  denomination  at  the  anniversary  of  the 
American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,  held  at 
Minneapolis.  The  conception  of  the  measure  orig- 
inated with  H."L.  Morehouse,  d.  d.,  then  secretary  of 
the  Home  Mission  Society.  His  service  in  that  office 
had  frequently  brought  to  his  attention  deficiencies  of 
denominational  methods  in  founding  and  building 
institutions  of  learning,  more  especially  in  the  newer 


EDUCATION  297 

States.  Such  institutions,  he  found,  were  sometimes 
originated  without  sufficient  regard  to  conditions  es- 
sential to  success,  and  with  very  inadequate  ideas  as 
to  what  is  necessary  to  the  making  of  a  university  or 
college,  or  even  of  an  academy  of  the  needful  sort. 
Wiser  plans  in  the  founding  of  new  schools,  and 
larger  means  for  the  building  of  such  schools  and 
the  relief  and  enlargement  of  those  already  in  exist- 
ence, he  saw  to  be  imperative.  After  consultation 
with  others  impressed  like  himself  with  these  consid- 
erations, he  brought  the  subject  to  the  attention  of  the 
Home  Mission  Society  at  its  anniversary  as  above 
noted.  At  his  suggestion  a  committee  of  seven.  Dr. 
Morehouse  being  made  the  chairman,  was  appointed 
to  have  the  matter  under  advisement  and  to  take 
such  steps  as  might  be  found  judicious  as  preliminary 
to  the  organization  of  a  National  Baptist  Education 
Society,  should  such  a  measure  prove  to  be  advisable. 
As  the  question  of  such  an  organization  came  be- 
fore the  denomination  in  discussion  of  the  denomina- 
tional journals,  it  was  found  that  there  was  some  di- 
vision of  opinion  upon  the  subject.  It  was  doubted 
if  it  would  be  wise  to  increase  the  number  of  organi- 
zations appealing  for  funds  to  carry  on  their  respec- 
tive enterprises.  Other  grounds  of  objection  were 
urged,  and  when  the  national  anniversaries  met  at 
Washington  in  1888,  it  seemed  for  a  while  doubtful 
if  the  new  movement  could  gain  denominational  en- 
dorsement. 


298  HISTORY  or  baptists  in  western  states 

The  committee  appointed  at  Minneapolis,  of  which 
Dr.  Morehouse  was  chairman,  had  secured  a  place 
upon  the  general  programme  for  a  convention  in  this 
behalf.  Addresses  were  secured  from  President  Wel- 
ling, of  Columbian  University,  who  presided ;  Dr. 
Geo.  C.  Lorimer,  of  Chicago,  Dr.  T.  T.  Eaton,  of 
Louisville,  and  Dr.  Morehouse  himself,  with  papers 
on  assigned  topics  by  Rev.  Walter  Scott,  of  New 
York,  and  Rev.  O.  P.  Eaches,  of  New  Jersey.  In 
these  addresses  the  subject  was  so  fully  and  convinc- 
ingly opened  as  to  command  a  vote  in  favor  of  im- 
mediate organization,  which  was  accordingly  eifected, 
under  the  name  of  the  American  Baptist  Education 
Society.  Hon.  Francis  Way  land,  ll.  d.,  of  New 
Haven,  was  chosen  president  of  the  society ;  L.  B. 
Ely,  of  Missouri,  and  Hon.  George  A.  Pillsbury,  of 
Minnesota,  vice-presidents ;  A.  G.  Lawson,  D.  D.,  of 
Massachusetts,  recording  secretary ;  and  Rev.  F.  T. 
Gates,  of  Minnesota,  corresponding  secretary.  On 
the  Board  of  Trustees  the  several  States  of  the 
Union  were  represented,  tliose  from  the  West  being 
C.  L.  Colby,  Wisconsin  ;  W.  H.  Doane,  Ohio  ;  J.  A. 
Smith  and  E.  E.  Nelson  Blake,  Illinois  ;  M.  S.  Smal- 
ley,  Kansas  ;  G.  J.  Burchett,  Oregon  ;  C.  C.  Bowen, 
Michigan. 

In  the  choice  of  a  secretary,  upon  whom  so  much 
of  responsibility  and  labor  must  devolve,  the  Board 
of  the  society  was  fortunate  in  securing  for  that  ser- 
vice, Rev.  F.  T.  Gates,  the  pastor  of  the  Central 


EDUCATION  299 

Baptist  Church,  Minneapolis.  Mr.  Gates  had  sig- 
nalized in  various  ways  his  interest  in  education,  and 
had  already  achieved  a  most  gratifying  success  in 
securing  from  the  denomination  of  Minnesota  the 
sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  toward  the  endowment 
of  Pillsbury  Academy  in  that  State.  He  had  been 
from  the  first  in  full  sympathy  with  the  new  move- 
ment in  education,  and  on  his  acceptance,  after  due 
consideration,  of  the  office  tendered  him,  entered 
upon  service  with  characteristic  zeal,  and  with  a 
measure  of  success  in  stimulating  and  aiding  efforts 
to  place  institutions  in  all  sections  of  the  country 
upon  better  foundations,  which  illustrated  in  the  best 
manner  the  value  of  the  new  denominational  agency 
thus  created. 

Mention  is  here  due,  in  a  veiy  particular  manner, 
of  the  name  of  Mr.  John  D.  Eockefeller.  This 
gentleman,  interested  in  all  that  concerns  denomina- 
tional prosperity  in  whatever  direction,  and  in  the 
cause  of  religion  and  philanthropy  in  general,  had 
not  failed  of  due  attention  to  the  condition  of  col- 
leges and  schools,  under  the  auspices  of  the  denomi- 
nation, in  various  parts  of  the  country.  He  had  in- 
terested himself  in  particular  in  what  had  come  to 
his  attention  of  the  need  for  enlarged  plans  in  educa- 
tion, and  of  wider  scope  in  courses  of  instruction. 
It  was  his  wish  that  somewhere  in  the  country,  at 
the  most  fitting  point,  a  Baptist  university  might 
grow  up,  in  which  the  university  idea  in  education 


300    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

should  be  fully  realized.  In  this  he  found  much 
intelligent  sympathy,  both  in  New  York  City  and 
elsewhere,  although  some  diiference  of  opinion  ap- 
peared as  to  the  most  fitting  location  for  such  an 
enterprise. 

Mr,  Rockefeller's  interest  in  education,  however, 
was  not  limited  to  any  one  plan  of  procedure,  or  to 
education  itself  in  its  more  advanced  forms.  Enter- 
ing fully  into  the  plans  of  the  new  organization,  he 
supplied  it  in  the  first  year  of  its  liistory  with  the 
sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  as  a  basis  for 
its  operations,  continuing  his  generosity  to  a  like 
amount  in  years  following.  From  resources  thus 
supplied  help  was  aiforded  to  institutions,  especially 
in  the  West  and  South,  embarrassed  in  their  work 
through  deficiency  of  means,  the  smns  granted  being 
conditioned  upon  the  raising  through  efforts  of  each 
institution  on  its  own  part  of  a  certain  amount  named 
as  a  condition  of  the  grant.  In  this  way  institutions, 
some  of  them  almost  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy, 
were  stimulated  to  fresh  exertion,  their  friends  rallied 
in  a  new  spirit  of  enterprise  and  educational  zeal, 
while  the  sums  bestowed  were  sufficient,  in  many 
cases,  together  with  what  was  raised  in  addition,  to 
place  in  a  condition  for  renewed  growth  and  enlarge- 
ment schools  and  colleges,  hope  for  which  had  almost 
died  out.  Into  this  service  Mr.  Gates,  the  secretary, 
entered  with  a  spirit  of  sympathy  in  behalf  of  strug- 
gling interests,  with  tact  in  discriminating  claims 


EDUCATION  301 

which  should  bo  recognized,  and  needs  which  were 
real,  and  in  all  ways  marked  executive  ability,  which 
fully  met  the  high  expectation  of  those  by  whom  he 
had  been  called  into  this  responsible  and  delicate 
service. 

Meantime  the  subject  of  some  large  enterprise  in 
university  education  had  not  been  allowed  to  slum- 
ber. It  was  thought  by  some  that  the  commercial 
metropolis  of  the  country  should  itself  be  made  the 
seat  of  such  an  institution.  Many  others  felt  that  a 
site  more  inland,  considering  the  continental  extent 
of  the  field  to  be  provided,  would  be  preferable. 
There  were  many,  also,  who  strongly  felt  that  what 
had  been  lost  in  Chicago,  after  so  many  years  of 
struggle,  sacrifice,  and  educational  success,  should  be 
recovered  and  restored.  The  advantages  of  a  loca- 
tion at  a  national  center  like  Chicago,  were  also 
pressed  by  friends  of  such  a  location.  Mr.  Rocke- 
feller's own  preference  seemed  upon  the  whole  to 
favor  Chicago,  provided  there  could  be  evidence  af- 
forded that  an  enterprise  of  the  nature  proposed 
would  there  be  in  such  a  manner  seconded  as  to  in- 
sure its  success. 

Dr.  William  R.  Harper,  for  several  years  pro- 
fessor of  Hebrew  and  Old  Testament  interpretation 
in  the  Baptist  Union  Theological  Seminary  at  Mor- 
gan Park,  but  at  the  time  here  in  view,  professor  of 
the  Semitic  languages  and  literature  in  Yale  Uni- 
versity, from  the  first  interested  himself  in  the  pro- 


302    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

posed  new  enterprise  in  university  provision.  He 
was  much  in  Mr.  Rockefeller's  confidence  while  the 
subject  was  under  consideration.  His  own  views 
favored  Chicago.  The  question  was  brought  to  a 
test  at  the  first  anniversary  of  the  American  Baptist 
Education  Society  at  Boston,  in  May,  1889.  An 
offer  was  there  made  public,  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Rocke- 
feller, to  give  the  sum  of  six  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars toward  one  million  dollars  for  the  founding  and 
endowment  of  a  college  at  Chicago,  provided  the 
needed  additional  sum  of  four  hundred  thousand 
dollars  should  be  secured  in  that  city.  A  proposal 
like  that  was  unexampled  in  the  educational  history 
of  American  Baptists,  and  was  welcomed  by  the  au- 
dience present  on  the  occasion  with  unbounded  en- 
thusiasm. 

Those  present  from  Chicago,  immediately  upon 
their  return,  called  a  meeting  of  gentlemen  known 
to  be  favorable  to  the  proposed  enterprise.  A  Col- 
lege Committee  of  thirty-six  persons  was  chosen. 
Rev.  T.  W.  Goodspeed,  d.  d.,  for  many  years  the 
efficient  financial  secretary  of  the  theological  semi- 
nary at  Morgan  Park,  was  appointed  to  act  with 
Mr.  Gates  in  the  effort  to  secure  the  required  sub- 
scription. These  two  gentlemen  entered  upon  the 
service  with  zeal  and  with  extraordinary  tact  and 
ability.  When  the  society  met  at  Chicago  for  its 
anniversary  in  May,  1890,  they  were  able  to  an- 
nounce that  the  subscription  of  four  hundred  thou- 


,  EDUCATION  303 

sand  dollars  in  interest-bearing  notes,  was  full,  and 
had  been  accepted  as  satisfactory  by  Mr.  Rockefeller. 
The  occasion  of  this  announcement  was  again  one  of 
great  enthusiasm,  with  a  stimulus  to  fresh  educa- 
tional effort  felt  in  every  part  of  the  country. 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  on  which  this  an- 
nouncement was  made,  a  meeting  of  the  Education 
Society,  which  thronged  the  great  hall  of  the  Audi- 
torium in  Chicago,  was  held,  at  which  Hon.  Francis 
Wayland,  president  of  the  Society,  presided,  and 
which  was  addressed  by  representatives  of  the  sev- 
eral societies :  Rev.  H.  L.  Morehouse,  d.  d.,  the 
Home  Mission  Society ;  Rev.  J.  N.  Murdoch,  d.  d., 
the  Missionary  Union ;  Rev.  Wayland  Hoyt,  d.  d., 
the  Publication  Society  ;  Rev.  F.  T.  Gates,  the  Edu- 
cation Society  ;  while  Dr.  P.  S.  Henson,  in  a  closing 
address,  represented  the  Baptist  churches  and  citi- 
zens of  Chicago. 

Mr.  Rockefeller's  munificent  gift  of  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars  contemplated,  for  the  present,  simply 
the  endowment  of  a  college.  It  was  given,  how- 
ever, on  expectation  of  a  speedy  university  organ- 
ization. This  enlargement  of  the  plan  was  imme- 
diately entered  upon,  and  with  a  view  to  its  realiza- 
tion an  act  of  incorporation  for  such  a  university 
under  the  name  of  the  "  University  of  Chicago," 
was  secured  from  the  Illinois  State  legislature. 
The  Board  of  the  former  university,  not  having  as 
yet  been  dissolved,  took  the  necessary  steps  to  pre- 


304   HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

vent  a  collision  of  names,  and  then  finally  ad- 
journed, it  being  provided  that  the  former  institu- 
tion should  thenceforth  be  known  as  "  The  Old  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago."  The  incorporators  named  in 
the  charter  as  now  obtained,  were  :  John  D.  Rocke- 
feller, E.  Nelson  Blake,  Marshall  Field,  Fred  T. 
Gates,  Francis  E.  Hinckley,  and  Thomas  W.  Good- 
speed.  Mr.  Blake  was  chosen  president  of  the 
Board  of  trustees  in  its  organization ;  Mr.  Martin 
A.  Ryerson,  vice-president ;  Mr.  Charles  L.  Hutchin- 
son, treasurer ;  and  Thomas  W.  Goodspeed,  d.  d., 
secretary.  The  trustees  numbered  twenty-one  in 
all ;  of  Baptists,  E.  Nelson  Blake,  Herman  H.  Kohl- 
saat,  William  R.  Harper,  Alonzo  K.  Parker,  Fred 
A.  Smith,  Francis  E.  Hinckley,  Edward  Goodman, 
George  C.  Walker,  Andrew  McLeish,  Henry  A.  Rust, 
Joseph  M.  Bailey,  John  W.  Midgley,  Elmer  L.  Cor- 
thell,  Charles  W.  Needham,  were  chosen.  Of  gen- 
tlemen not  living  in  Chicago  are  to  be  named,  Charles 
C.  Bowen,  of  Detroit,  and  George  A.  Pillsbury,  of 
Minneapolis.  Members  not  Baptists  were,  Martin 
A.  Ryerson,  Ferd.W.  Peck,  Eli  B.  Felsenthal,  and 
Daniel  L.  Shorey.  The  denominational  proportion 
here  was  in  accordance  with  a  provision  in  the  char- 
ter, that  two-thirds  of  the  trustees  and  the  president 
of  the  university  should  always  be  Baptists,  thus 
securing  the  control  of  the  university  to  the  denom- 
ination, while  in  no  other  way  recognizing  denomi- 
national or  religious  distinctions. 


EDUCATION  305 

Events  from  the  beginning,  as  well  as  the  decided 
choice  of  all  interested  in  the  fortnnes  of  the  new 
enterprise,  had  pointed  to  Dr.  William  R.  Harper 
as  president  of  the  university.  One  of  the  first 
acts  of  the  trustees  was  to  elect  him  to  this  office. 
The  magnitude  of  the  undertaking  and  the  respon- 
sibilities of  the  position  were  fully  realized  by  Dr. 
Harper.  Yet  his  interest  in  it  and  the  prospect  thus 
opened  for  realizing  ideals  of  his  own  in  university 
education,  overcame  his  hesitation.  The  position 
was  accepted  and  he  entered  at  once  upon  his  duties. 

The  choice  of  financial  secretary  was  as  much  a 
matter  settled  beforehand  as  that  of  a  president  had 
been.  Dr.  T.  W.  Goodspeed's  record  during  sev- 
eral years  in  a  like  position  at  Morgan  Park,  had 
demonstrated  his  unusual  qualifications  for  service  of 
this  nature.  From  the  moment  of  the  initiation  of 
this  new  enterprise,  he  had  been  evidently  the  pre- 
destined leader  of  it,  so  far  as  concerned  provision 
of  means  to  carry  it  on.  In  the  organization  of  the 
Board  of  trustees  and  the  inauguration  of  the  work 
no  second  choice  for  the  place  was  thought  of  by 
any  one.  This  service  was  but  the  continuation  of 
that  in  which,  in  company  with  Mr.  Gates,  Dr. 
Goodspeed  had  been  already  engaged.  In  the  prose- 
cution of  it  abundant  opportunity  was  furnished  for 
the  exercise  of  sagacity,  energy,  and  resource,  and 
in  all  these  respects  his  endowment  for  the  position 
was  more  fully  demonstrated  year  by  year. 

u 


306    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

The  question  as  to  what  part  of  the  city,  or  its 
vicinity,  sliould  be  chosen  as  a  site  for  the  university 
was  finally  decided  in  favor  of  a  location  near  the 
southern  limit  between  Washington  and  Jackson 
Parks,  and  fronting  upon  the  Midway  Plaisance, 
connecting  the  two.  A  block  and  a  half  of  ground, 
valued  at  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars, was  •  given  for  the  purpose  by  Mr.  Marshall 
Field,  of  Chicago.  Two  and  a  half  additional  blocks 
were  purchased  later,  for  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  thus  securing  a 
site  twenty-four  acres  in  extent.  The  first  building, 
to  be  named  Cobb  Hall,  in  honor  of  Mr.  Silas  B. 
Cobb,  of  Chicago,  who  gave  for  the  purpose  the  sum 
of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  was  be- 
gun in  November,  1891,  and  on  the  first  of  October, 
1892,  the  university  began  there  its  work  of  instruc- 
tion. In  the  meantime  great  additions  had  been 
made  to  its  resources.  In  September,  1890,  Mr. 
Rockefeller  added  one  million  dollars  to  his  original 
gift;  in  February,  1892,  a  second  million;  in  De- 
cember of  the  same  year  a  third  million ;  making  a 
sum  total  of  donation  from  this  source  of  three  mil- 
lion six  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Munificent  gifts 
had  also  been  made  in  Chicago  for  the  erection  of 
needed  buildings  :  One  hundred  thousand  dollars  by 
Mr.  Marshall  Field  ;  two  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
which  was  increased  to  two  hundred  and  thirty-five 
thousand  dollars,  as  the  building  went  on,  by  Mr. 


EDUCATION  307 

S.  A.  Kent,  for  a  fully  equipped  chemical  laboratory  ; 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  as  already 
mentioned,  by  Mr.  Silas  B.  Cobb  ;  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  which  became  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  by  Mr.  Martin  A.  Ryer- 
son,  for  a  physical  laboratory ;  one  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  by  Mr.  George  C.  Walker, 
for  a  museum  ;  sixty  thousand  dollars,  by  Mrs.  N. 
S.  Foster ;  fifty  thousand  dollars,  by  Mr.  Henry  A. 
Rust ;  fifty  thousand  dollars,  by  Mrs.  Henrietta 
Snell ;  fifty  thousand  dollars,  by  Mrs.  Mary  A. 
Beecher ;  fifty  thousand  dollars,  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
C.  Kelly.  These  gifts  were  all  for  the  erection  of 
needed  buildings. 

At  the  opening  of  the  second  year  of  the  univer- 
sity, the  following  buildings  were  completed  and  oc- 
cupied :  Cobb  Lecture  Hall,  being  a  general  recita- 
tion and  administrative  building,  and  including  that 
M'hich  had  been  joined  to  it  for  occupancy  of  the 
divinity  school,  used  also  as  a  dormitory  for  gradu- 
ate students ;  Kent  Chemical  Laboratory ;  Snell 
Hall,  a  dormitory  for  undergraduate  men ;  Beecher 
and  Kelly  Halls  for  women  ;  the  Walker  Museum, 
and  a  temporary  structure  for  the  general  library, 
the  gymnasium  for  men,  and  one  also  for  women. 
Ryerson  Physical  Laboratory  and  Foster  Hall  were 
also  nearly  completed ;  there  being  in  all  nine  spa- 
cious buildings  erected  at  a  cost  of  one  million  one 
hundred  and  five  thousand  dollars ;  including  site, 


308    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

one  million  three  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  plans  of  a  building  to  be  called  Rust 
Hall  were  also  in  course  of  preparation. 

In  the  removal  of  the  buildings  from  the  campus 
of  the  Old  University  of  Chicago,  the  astronomical 
apparatus  had  been  secured  by  the  Northwestern 
University  at  Evanston.  The  provision  of  an  ob- 
servatory and  the  needful  astronomical  equipment 
for  the  new  university  was  undertaken  by  Mr. 
Charles  T.  Yerkes,  of  Chicago,  the  location  being 
fixed  by  the  Board  of  trustees,  at  Lake  Geneva,  Wis., 
some  thirty  miles  from  Chicago ;  the  location  at  a 
point  so  distant  being  determined  by  the  necessity  of 
providing,  against  all  contingencies  in  years  to  come, 
a  pure  atmosphere  as  a  condition  of  successful  astro- 
nomical observations.  A  library,  numbering  some 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  volumes,  offered  for 
sale  at  Berlin,  Germany,  had  been  purchased  with 
money  received  in  gifts  for  this  especial  purpose.  To 
this  were  added  the  library  of  the  Old  University  of 
Chicago,  and  that  of  the  theological  seminary  at 
Morgan  Park,  making  a  total,  with  books  otherwise 
secured  by  gift  or  purchase,  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty-two  thousand  volumes. 

The  university  opened  with  all  its  departments 
complete,  including  post-graduate  students  in  all  lines 
of  instruction,  the  divinity  school,  the  academic  and 
university  colleges,  each  with  a  course  of  two  years, 
and  the  academy  located  at  Morgan  Park.     Of  the 


EDUCATION  309 

transfer  of  the  tlicological  seminary  to  the  university 
as  its  divinity  school,  and  of  the  establishment  of  the 
academy,  we  speak  elsewhere. 

The  faculty  of  the  university,  at  the  opening  of  its 
second  year,  numbered  all  told,  one  hundred  and 
thirty-five ;  students  in  all  departments  numbered 
nearly  one  thousand ;  volumes  in  the  several  libraries, 
two  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand.  These  figures 
nearly  represent  also  the  university  status  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  first  year,  October  1,  1892.  Upon  these 
faculties  were  many  distinguished  men,  and  the  work 
in  all  departments  was  entered  upon  with  extraordi- 
nary enthusiasm.  The  organizing  genius  of  the 
president,  seconded  as  he  Avas  by  a  Board  of  trustees 
characterized  by  administrative  ability  of  the  highest 
class,  was  signally  shown  in  the  completeness,  the 
adequacy,  and  the  working  efficiency  of  the  univer- 
sity, in  all  departments,  from  the  very  first  day. 

If  limitations  of  space  permitted,  there  would  be 
much  to  say  of  those  capable  and  faithful  men  who, 
during  the  period  covered  thus  far  by  this  part  of  our 
histoiy,  had  been  engaged  as  educators  in  the  col- 
leges whose  opening  record  is  now  before  the  reader. 
Though  serving  under  circumstances  trying  to  men 
with  high  ideals,  and  while  some  years  necessarily 
passed  before  the  Western  college  could  take  rank 
with  institutions  of  like  grade  in  the  older  States,  the 
work  they  did  as  instructors  was  of  a  superior  kind. 
Some  of  them  were,  as  scholars  and  as  authors,  men 


310    HISTOEY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

of  national  reputation.  More  lucrative  and  more 
conspicuous  positions  might  easily  have  been  secured 
by  them  elsewhere.  They  chose,  however,  to  pledge 
their  reputation  and  their  fortunes  to  those  interests 
in  the  younger  States  which  so  much  needed  the  kind 
of  fostering  they  could  give,  and  they  had  their  re- 
ward in  the  usefulness  and  distinction  achieved  by 
their  pupils  in  all  those  spheres  of  life  where  trained 
capacity  is  most  needful  and  most  sure  of  recognition. 
We  cannot  pass  from  this  part  of  our  subject  without 
a  degree,  at  least,  of  personal  detail,  added  to  what 
has  already  appeared. 

The  list  of  presidents  of  Granville  College,  now 
Denison  University,  opens  with  the  name  of  Prof. 
John  Pratt,  under  whom,  in  1831,  the  beginning  was 
made.  Dr.  Jonathan  Going,  1837,  who  continued  in 
service  until  his  death  in  1844,  followed,  devoting 
himself  mainly,  however,  to  outside  interests  of  the 
college  and  to  theological  instruction,  the  main  charge 
being  otherwise  committed  for  a  time  to  Prof.  John 
Stevens,  of  the  faculty.  In  1847,  Rev.  Silas  Bailey, 
D.  D.,  was  chosen  president,  continuing  in  service 
until  1852,  when  he  accepted  a  similar  post  of  ser- 
vice at  Franklin  College,  Ind.  A  man  of  marked 
ability,  he  is  to  be  named  with  honor  among  those 
who  have  left  lasting  impressions  on  the  educational 
history  of  the  West.  In  1853,  Rev.  Jeremiah  Hall, 
D.  D.,  became  president.  It  was  under  his  presidency 
that  the  name  of  the  college,  in  honor  of  one  of  its 


EDUCATION  311 

chief  benefactors,  was  changed  to  that  of  Denison 
University.  In  1863  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
Samuel  Talbot,  D.  d.,  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  a  gradu- 
ate of  Granville  College  under  President  Bailey.  Dr. 
Talbot  was  called  to  the  presidency  from  the  pastor- 
ate of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Dayton.  During 
the  ten  years  of  his  presidency  he  won  high  distinc- 
tion, personally,  as  a  thinker  and  an  instructor,  and 
for  the  university  under  his  care  an  honored  place 
among  American  schools  of  its  own  grade.  His 
death,  in  1873,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-five,  was 
deeply  lamented. 

Dr.  Talbot  was  succeeded,  in  1874,  by  Rev.  E. 
Benjamin  Andrews.  The  distinguished  career  of  Dr. 
Andrews  may  be  said  to  have  begun  in  the  service 
rendered  in  this  presidency.  During  the  five  years 
of  his  incumbency  he  gained  for  himself  a  record  in 
the  training  imparted  to  his  pupils,  and  in  the  gen- 
eral administration  of  the  university,  which  must 
always  remain  notable  in  its  history.  In  1879  Dr. 
Andrews,  becoming  a  professor  in  Newton  Theologi- 
cal Institution,  Rev.  A.  Owen,  d.  d.,  was  called  to  the 
presidency,  serving  with  recognized  efficiency  until 
1887,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Galusha  An- 
derson, s.  T.  D.,  who  remained  in  office  until  called,  in 
1889,  to  the  chair  of  homiletics  in  the  theological 
seminary  at  Morgan  Park,  111.  Rev.  D.  B.  Purin- 
ton,  D.  D.,  of  West  Virginia,  was  then  called  to  the 
presidency,  most  worthily  crowning  this  succession  of 


312    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

men  distinguished  as  educators^  and  in  various  other 
spheres  of  public  service. 

In  the  early  days  of  Shurtlcif  College,  1836-40, 
Prof.  Washington  Leverett  who,  with  his  brother, 
Prof.  Warren  Leverett,  had  early  identified  himself 
with  AYestern  work  in  education,  served  as  the  acting 
president.  He  was  succeeded,  in  1840,  by  Rev.  Adiel 
Sherwood,  d.  d.,  who  held  the  position  until  1846, 
when,  upon  his  resignation,  Prof.  Washington  Lever- 
ett again  became  the  acting  president.  In  1850  Pev. 
N.  N.  Wood,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  Market  Street  Bap- 
tist Church,  Zanesvillc,  Ohio,  a  man  of  marked  per- 
sonal character  and  fine  intellectual  gifts,  was  called 
to  the  presidency,  remaining  in  office  until  1855.  In 
the  following  year  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Daniel 
Read,  ll.  d.,  pastor  of  tlie  Second  Baptist  Church, 
St.  Louis,  who  remained  in  service  fourteen  years. 
During  his  incumbency  a  theological  department  was 
connected  with  the  college  on  the  basis  of  a  liberal 
endowment  by  Mr.  Elijah  Gove,  of  Quincy,  111. 
Under  Dr.  Read's  administration  the  college  rose  to 
a  distinction  among  American  colleges  unattained 
before,  entering  fully  upon  that  career  of  enlargement 
which  still  continues.  In  1872  Rev.  Adin  A.  Ken- 
drick,  D.  D.,  himself  also  at  the  time  a  pastor  in  St. 
Louis,  was,  upon  Dr.  Read's  resignation,  called  to 
the  presidency.  During  his  incumbency  of  almost  a 
quarter  of  a  century — his  resignation  occurred  in 
1894 — the  courses  of  study  in  the  college  were  much 


EDUCATION  313 

improved,  important  additions  made  to  the  faculty, 
the  endowment  fund  was  much  increased,  and  new 
buildings  were  erected.  The  graduates  of  the  college, 
in  all  parts  of  our  own  laud  and  in  foreign  countries, 
are  warmly  attached  to  it — the  best  testimony  of  all 
to  the  efficiency  and  value  of  the  instruction  and  the 
general  training  for  service  there  received. 

In  1869,  while  Dr.  Read  was  still  president,  young 
ladies  were  admitted  to  full  matriculation  in  the  col- 
lege, and  they  have  since  had  free  admission  to  all 
departments  save  that  of  theology.  For  several  years 
the  attendance  of  young  women  has  stood  at  thirty- 
three  per  cent,  of  the  whole.  A  building  for  their 
especial  accommodation  was  erected,  and  as  an  ele- 
ment in  the  life  of  the  college  they  have  justified  fully 
the  principle  of  co-education.  In  1876,  the  Centen- 
nial year,  a  highly  important  service  was  rendered 
the  college  by  Rev.  G.  J.  Johnson,  d.  d.,  in  associa- 
tion wath  President  Kendrick,  in  raising  for  it  an 
endowment  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  In 
1893  an  addition  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  was  made, 
with  the  aid  of  the  National  Baptist  Education  Soci- 
ety in  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars.  The  entire 
assets  of  the  college  are  now  placed  at  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

Of  incumbents  of  the  presidency  at  Franklin  Col- 
lege, Indiana,  to  the  closing  of  the  college  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  we  have  already  spoken. 
During  the  interval  elapsing  from  1862  to  1869, 


314    HISTOEY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

although  the  college  was  closed,  much  educational 
movement  was  going  forward  in  the  State  in  the  in- 
auguration of  academical  Avork  at  various  points. 
Of  this  we  speak  more  particularly  in  another  place. 
In  1869  the  Board  of  the  college  made  extensive 
repairs  upon  the  buildings  and  improvements  in  the 
grounds  preparatory  to  a  reopening.  A  faculty  was 
appointed,  and  in  the  autumn  of  the  year  named,  the 
college  reopened  under  the  acting  presidency  of  Rev. 
W.  T.  Stott.  Although  there  was  but  little  endow- 
ment and  "  scant  apparatus,"  yet  the  college  and  its 
interests  were  much  in  the  affections  of  Baptists  in 
the  State,  and  students  appeared  in  gratifying  num- 
bers. Prof  H.  L.  Wayland,  d.  d.,  then  of  Kala- 
mazoo College,  was  chosen  president,  and  the  college 
steadily  gained  in  its  hold  upon  the  people ;  yet  the 
effort  to  secure  an  endowment  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  proved  to  be  premature,  the  income  of 
the  college  fell  short  of  its  expenditure,  and  upon 
the  resignation  of  President  Wayland,  in  1872,  an- 
other suspension  seemed  for  the  moment  likely  to 
occur.  Those  who  still  clung  to  the  college  realized 
that  the  financial  status  must  undergo  a  complete 
change.  Accordingly,  ajoint^stock  association  was 
formed,  over  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  stock  was  sub- 
scribed, and  in  September,  1872,  the  college  was  re- 
opened, entering  now  a  new  career  with  better 
auspices :  "  Money  was  gathered,  slowly  but  con- 
stantly.    Old  students  and  friends  of   the  college 


EDUCATION  315 

showed  enthusiasm,  the  faculty  was  gradually  en- 
larged, a  library  was  gathered,  students  multiplied, 
higher  standards  were  resolved  on,  a  fine  geological 
collection  was  received,  a  live  financial  secretary, 
Rev.  N.  Carr,  was  secured,  hope  smiled,  and  the 
whole  State  was  conquered  to  the  college."  * 

The  writer  of  what  we  here  quote  does  not  men- 
tion the  chief  factor  in  this  new  order  of  things,  the 
executive  ability  and  other  intellectual  and  personal 
qualities  inhering  in  the  headship  of  the  college. 
Rev.  W.  T.  Stott,  who  had  earlier  served  as  acting 
president,  entered  now  upon  full  incumbency.  He 
had  graduated  at  the  college  in  1861,  immediately 
after  which  he  entered  the  army,  taking  part  in  fif- 
teen battles,  at  that  of  Cedar  Creek  being  in  com- 
mand of  his  regiment.  Graduating  in  1868  at  the 
Rochester  Theological  Seminary,  he  served  for  one 
year  as  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Columbus, 
Ind.,  but  in  1869  accepted  the  professorship  of  nat- 
ural science  in  the  college,  and  the  presidency  in 
1872.  From  the  state  of  financial  depression  spoken 
of  at  the  dates  here  named,  the  college,  under  his 
administration,  steadily  rose,  the  financial  secretary, 
Rev.  N.  Carr,  efficiently  co-operating  with  the  presi- 
dent, until  in  April,  1893,  the  trustees  could  report 
assets  to  the  amount  of  two  hundred  and  ninety-two 
thousand  dollars.  In  all  the  elements  of  a  genuine 
educational  force,  the  departments  of  instruction 
^  President  Stott. 


316    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

had  in  the  meantime  kept  pace  with  what  was  seen 
in  the  department  of  finance. 

The  presidency  of  Kalamazoo  College  from  the 
time  of  its  incorporation  as  such  in  1855,  until  1864, 
was  held  by  Dr.  J.  A.  B.  Stone.  In  that  year  John 
M.  Gregory,  ll.  d.,  who  had  gained  marked  dis- 
tinction as  superintendent  of  public  instruction  in 
the  State  of  Michigan,  became  president,  remaining 
in  service  as  such  until  1867.  The  following  year 
Rev.  Kendall  Brooks,  d.  d.,  was  chosen  president. 
Dr.  Brooks  had  previously  held  positions  of  distin- 
guished service  as  professor  of  mathematics  and  nat- 
ural philosophy  in  Waterville  College,  now  Colby 
University,  as  pastor  in  Fitchburg,  Mass.,  and  as 
editor  of  the  "  National  Baptist "  in  Philadelphia. 
Even  as  pastor  he  had  interested  himself  much  in 
educational  aifairs,  holding  membership  in  boards  of 
education  in  the  places  of  his  residence.  During 
the  nearly  twenty  years  of  his  incumbency  at  Kala- 
mazoo he  was  influential  and  useful  in  a  high  degree 
in  general  denominational  affairs  within  the  State, 
serving  two  years,  1877—79,  as  president  of  the 
Baptist  State  Convention.  Upon  his  resignation  of 
the  college  presidency.  Rev.  M.  S.  Wilcox,  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  church  in  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  was  chosen 
president,  remaining  in  service  until  1891.  Rev. 
Theo.  Nelson,  ll.  d.,  a  young  man  of  great  promise, 
whose  early  death  was  an  occasion  of  universal  sor- 
row, next  became  president  for  one  year,  being  then 


EDUCATION  317 

compelled  by  failure  of  health  to  relinquish  a  post 
to  which  he  had  been  called  with  high  hopes  of  his 
usefulness  there,  but  which  a  rapid  decline  of  health 
would  not  allow  him  to  retain.  His  death  while  yet 
in  early  life  cut  short  a  career  which  began  with  the 
most  brilliant  promise.  In  1892  A.  Gaylord 
Slocum,  LL.  D.,  who  had  held  important  positions  in 
general  educational  service  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  was  called  to  fill  the  vacancy  so  made,  and  to 
the  gratification  of  all  interested,  accepted  the  charge. 
Under  his  administration  the  college,  which  since 
the  resignation  of  President  Brooks  had  suffered 
some  decline,  rapidly  recovered  lost  ground,  and  re- 
sumed its  career  of  prosperity  as  one  of  the  best  of 
AVestern  colleges. 

Connected  with  the  faculties  of  these  several  in- 
stitutions as  instructors  were  men  of  whom  we  should 
be  glad  to  write  at  greater  length  than  present 
limits  will  allow.  The  man  now  longest  in  educa- 
tional service,  as  connected  ^^'ith  any  Western  Bap- 
tist college,  is  perhaps  Prof.  Justus  Bulkley,  d.  d., 
of  Shurtleff  College.  Born  in  Livingston  County, 
N.  Y.,  in  1819,  Prof  Bulkley  has  lived,  since  the 
age  of  seventeen,  in  Illinois.  Educated  at  Shurtleff 
College  in  the  early  days  of  that  institution,  he 
served,  first,  as  principal  of  its  preparatory  depart- 
ment. In  1849,  ordained  as  pastor  of  Jerseyville, 
111.,  he  was,  after  four  years,  elected  professor  of 
mathematics  in  Shurtleff  College,  serving  until  1855, 


318    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

when  he  accepted  a  pastorate  at  Carrollton,  thence 
returning  to  Shiirtleff  College  after  nine  years,  to 
become  professor  of  church  history  in  the  theolog- 
ical department  there.  No  man  in  the  State  has  ever 
surpassed  him  in  personal  ascendency  and  in  hold 
upon  the  denomination  as  college  instructor,  as  a 
preacher  of  rare  excellence,  as  a  presiding  officer  in 
the  State  meetings,  as  a  Christian  scholar  and  brother 
beloved. 

During  some  twenty-seven  years  Prof.  O.  L. 
Castle  was  professor  of  rhetoric  and  belles  lettres  in 
Shurtleff  College.  Educated  at  Granville  College, 
Ohio,  he  came  to  his  professorship  at  Alton  in  1853. 
We  find  him  justly  described  as  "  a  genial  and  cul- 
tured gentleman,  a  trained  scholar  in  the  classics 
and  mathematics  as  well  as  in  his  special  department, 
and  a  superior  teacher."  His  death  in  1890  was 
felt  as  a  loss  well-nigh  irreparable. 

Early  connected  with  Shurtleft  College  as  profes- 
sor, first  of  belles  lettres,  later  of  languages,  was  E. 
Adkins,  d.  d.  His  connection  with  the  college  be- 
gan in  1847,  his  service  there  continuing  nine  years, 
at  the  end  of  which  time  he  removed  to  New  York, 
to  become  associated  with  others  in  the  work  of  Bible 
revision.  A  pastorate  at  Brimfield,  111.,  came  later, 
following  which  was  a  professorship  in  Marietta  Col- 
lege, Ohio,  held  until  failure  of  sight  compelled  final 
abandonment  of  the  work  which  had  filled  so  much 
of  his  long  and  useful  life. 


EDUCATION  319 

Of  Professors  Washington  and  Warren  Leverett 
we  have  already  spoken.  These  gentlemen,  twin 
brothers,  born  in  1805,  were  graduates  of  Brown 
University,  in  the  class  of  1832.  Washington  was 
for  a  time  connected  with  the  faculty  of  Columbian 
University  at  Washington,  D.  C.  His  brother,  after 
some  time  spent  in  travel  for  benefit  of  health,  came 
to  Illinois,  opening  a  school  in  Greenville.  The 
founding  of  a  college  at  Upper  Alton  drew  him 
thither.  His  brother  soon  joined  him  there,  and 
they  continued  in  service  in  the  college  until  1868, 
a  period  of  thirty-two  years,  at  the  end  of  which 
period  both  resigned.  Prof.  AVarren  Leverett  dying 
in  1872,  and  his  brother  some  years  later.  The  de- 
partment of  the  former  had  been  that  of  the  an- 
cient languages,  that  of  the  latter  mathematics  and 
natural  philosophy. 

Prof  Chas.  L.  Fairman,  ll.  d.,  has  held  contin- 
uously at  ShurtlefF  College,  since  1875,  the  chair  of 
mathematics  and  the  natural  sciences.  He  had  pre- 
viously, in  1868,  occupied  the  same  position  in  the 
college,  but  resigned  in  1873  to  become  principal  of 
Cook  Academy,  at  Havana,  N.  Y.  In  1875,  as 
mentioned  above,  his  permanent  connection  with  the 
college  began.  Born  at  Northfield,  Mass.,  in  1823, 
a  graduate  of  Waterville  College,  now  Colby  Uni- 
versity, in  1847,  holding  important  positions  as  the 
head  of  academies  in  New  England  during  some 
twenty  years,  he  came  to  his  professorship  at  Shurt- 


320    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

leff  College  prepared  for  superior  service  iu  the 
chair  assigned  him.  "  He  is,"  writes  one  long  asso- 
ciated with  him,  "  a  thorough  student,  an  inspiring 
teacher,  a  noble  Christian  man.  His  work  as  in- 
structor, and  his  scholarly  and  Christian  example, 
have  been  among  the  most  important  influences  in 
molding  the  character  of  the  sons  of  Shurtleif  dur- 
ing the  last  twenty-five  years." 

It  was  in  the  year  1868  that  Prof.  James  Robinson 
Boise  became  connected  with  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago, as  professor  of  the  Greek  language  and  litera- 
ture. Graduating  at  Brown  University  in  1840,  he 
served  ten  years  there,  at  first  as  tutor  and  then  as 
professor  of  Greek.  In  1851,  after  a  year  spent  in 
Germany,  he  accepted  the  professorship  of  Greek  in 
the  Michigan  University  at  Ann  Arbor,  holding  this 
position  with  signal  honor  and  efficiency  for  seven- 
teen years.  From  1868,  during  nine  years,  he  served 
in  the  University  of  Chicago  as  its  Greek  professor, 
until  1877,  when  he  accepted  the  chair  of  Greek  and 
New  Testament  interpretation  in  the  theological  sem- 
inary at  Morgan  Park,  resigning  this  professorship  in 
1892,  after  a  service  of  fifteen  years.  Dr.  Boise  took 
rank  with  the  foremost  Greek  scholars  and  instructors 
of  the  United  States,  his  annotated  editions  of  classic 
works  like  Homer's  "  Iliad  "  and  Xenophon's  "  An- 
abasis," and  his  notes  on  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  being 
held  in  great  estimation  by  scholars  and  teachers. 
His  eminence  in  his  chosen  sphere  was  recognized  in 


EDUCATION  321 

the  degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy  conferred  by  the 
University  of  Tubingen,  in  Germany,  of  doctor  of 
laws  by  the  University  of  Michigan,  and  of  doctor  of 
divinity  by  Brown  University.  Upon  his  resignation 
of  his  professorship  in  the  theological  seminary,  he 
was  elected  professor  emeritus  of  New  Testament 
Greek  in  the  divinity  school  of  the  new  University 
of  Chicago. 

Prof.  Wm.  Mathews,  ll.  d.,  was  professor  of  rhet- 
oric and  English  literature  in  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago from  1862  till  1875.  Born  in  Waterville,  Me., 
in  1818,  he  had  graduated  at  the  college  there  in 
1835  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  Making  early  choice 
of  a  literary  career,  although  admitted  to  the  bar  after 
a  course  of  legal  study,  he  was  first  editor  of  a  liter- 
ary periodical  in  Boston.  Removing  to  Chicago  in 
1856,  he  was  soon  chosen  librarian  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  associating  with  this 
contributions  to  various  journals.  At  the  date  named 
above  he  became  connected  with  the  Universit}^  of 
Chicago,  discharging  the  duties  of  his  professorship 
with  marked  acceptance.  In  1875  he  resigned  and 
has  since  devoted  himself  entirely  to  literature.  His 
works  upon  themes  connected  with  literature  and  life 
have  had  a  circulation  such  as  few  American  essayists 
have  been  able  to  command.  In  purity  of  English 
style,  in  finish  of  treatment  for  the  themes  discussed, 
in  brilliancy  of  illustration,  they  eminently  deserve 
the  great  popularity  they  have  gained. 


322    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Prof.  A.  H.  Mixer  came  from  the  University  of 
Rochester  to  that  of  Chicago  early  in  the  history  of 
the  latter.  His  department  at  Rochester  had  been 
that  of  the  modern  languages  and  literature  ;  at  Chi- 
cago he  held  the  professorship  of  the  Greek  language 
and  literature  until  about  the  year  1867,  when  he  re- 
turned to  Rochester.  Besides  excellent  service  as  in- 
structor, he  was  much  associated  with  Rev.  M.  G. 
Clarke  and  with  Dr.  W.  W.  Everts  in  the  work  of 
securing  funds,  especially  at  the  time  the  central 
building  of  the  university  was  in  process  of  erection, 
and  also  in  the  endowment  of  the  chair  of  Greek  in 
the  university.  Prof.  A.  J.  Howe,  during  so  many 
years  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  University  of 
Chicago,  came  about  1863  to  this  position  from  Pen- 
field,  N.  Y.,  where  he  had  become  well  known  by  his 
proficiency  and  skill  in  his  chosen  department.  Suc- 
ceeding in  this  department  Prof.  A.  J.  Sawyer,  he  re- 
mained in  service  till  the  final  closing  of  the  univer- 
sity. In  the  department  of  Latin  Prof.  J.  W.  Stearns 
served  many  years  with  distinguished  success  ;  in  that 
of  natural  science,  Prof.  Bastin.  Dr.  Boise  was  suc- 
ceeded in  the  chair  of  Greek  by  Prof.  Edward  Olson, 
an  accomplished  scholar  and  teacher,  of  Norwegian 
parentage,  whose  social  qualities  as  well  as  intellect- 
ual gifts  endeared  him  to  a  large  circle  of  admiring 
friends.  His  death  at  the  burning  of  a  building  in 
Minneapolis,  where  he  was  calling  upon  a  friend  when 
the  fire  broke  out,  was  long  an  occasion  of  sorrowful 


EDUCATION  323 

recollection,  as  one  of  those  events  to  which  it  is  so 
hard  to  become  reconciled. 

Those  who  were  members  of  the  faculty  of  the  old 
University  of 'Chicago  in  its  last  years  are  entitled 
to  especial  honorable  mention  for  the  steadiness  and 
fidelity  with  which  they  continued  in  service  under 
circumstances  most  depressing,  holding  the  students 
bv  dint  of  their  cheerful  courage  and  unflao-o-ino;  en- 
thusiasm  in  their  work.  The  names  of  Howe,  Olson, 
Stuart,  Howes,  Butler,  Riggs,  should  ever  be  held  in 
honor  as  among  those  of  men  faithful  to  the  last  in 
times  that  try  men's  souls. 

Denison  University  presents  in  its  history  a  succes- 
sion of  scholars  and  teachers,  besides  those  already 
named,  to  which  any  institution  in  the  land  might 
point  with  pride.  We  shall  name  a  few  :  Prof.  F. 
O.  Marsh  was  a  man  endowed  with  fine  executive 
gifts  along  with  those  of  the  scholar  and  instructor. 
A  graduate  of  the  University  of  Michigan  in  1845, 
doing  academic  work  in  that  State  and  in  Ohio  until 
1848,  a  student  at  Granville  first,  after  one  year  at 
Newton  he  became  professor  at  Granville  of  natural 
science,  then  of  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy 
from  1854  to  1874  ;  serving  also  as  acting  president, 
1873—75.  In  his  latest  years  he  was  connected  with 
Leland  University,  New  Orleans,  where  he  died  on 
March  25, 1893.  Marsena  Stone,  d.d.,  born  in  1816, 
after  many  years  of  most  useful  pastoral  service  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  in  1852-56  conducted  the 


324    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

English  course  in  Fairmount  Theological  Seminary, 
Cincinnati;  in  1861—68  was  principal  of  the  Young 
Ladies'  Institute  at  Granville,  and  subsequently  much 
engaged  in  ministers'  institutes,  both  in  the  North 
and  in  the  South.  His  death  occurred  in  February, 
1894,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five. 

William  Arnold  Stevens,  D.  D.,  ll.  d.,  son  of  Prof. 
John  Stevens,  was  born  in  Granville  in  1839,  and 
graduated  at  Denison  University  in  1862.  After  a 
course  of  study  in  the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary, 
a  service  of  two  years  as  classical  tutor  at  Denison, 
and  a  year  at  Harvard  as  resident  graduate,  he  be- 
came adjunct  professor  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  Deni- 
son, and  professor  of  Greek  1868-77,  having  spent 
a  year  and  a  half  in  study  at  Leipzig  and  Berlin, 
Germany.  In  1877  he  was  chosen  Trevor  professor 
of  biblical  literature  and  New  Testament  exegesis  in 
the  theological  seminary  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.  Prof. 
A.  U.  Thresher,  a  graduate  of  Amlierst  College  in 
1865,  was  professor  of  rhetoric  and  English  literature 
at  Denison,  1867-92.  Prof.  L.  E.  Hicks,  ph.  d., 
was  a  graduate  of  Denison  in  1868,  having  in  the 
meantime  served  as  lieutenant-colonel  of  Ohio  volun- 
teers in  1861-65.  A  year  of  special  duty  in  natural 
sciences  under  Prof.  Agassiz  having  been  enjoyed,  he 
became  professor  in  that  department  at  Denison, 
1870-84.  In  1891  he  accepted  the  professorship  of 
geology  in  the  University  of  Nebraska.  After  three 
years  of  service  there  he  received  and  accepted  an  ap- 


EDUCATION  325 

pointmcnt  from  the  Missionary  Union  to  Rangoon, 
Burma,  for  the  organization  of  a  college  department 
in  the  Rangoon  Theological  Seminary.  Prof.  Charles 
Chandler,  born  in  Pontiac,  Mich.,  graduated  in  1871 
at  the  university  of  that  State,  and  in  1874,  after  two 
years  of  service  at  Denison  as  classical  tutor,  became 
professor  of  Latin  there.  Having  spent  one  year  in 
Germany,  1891-92,  he  was  in  the  latter  year  elected 
professor  of  Latin  in  the  new  University  of  Chicago. 
Prof.  R.  S.  Colwell,  who  became  professor  of 
the  Greek  language  and  literature  at  Denison  in 
1877,  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  a  graduate 
of  Brown  University  in  1870.  After  a  course  of 
study  at  Newton,  one  year,  1875-76,  was  spent  in 
Europe.  In  1891  he  received  the  degree  of  d.  d. 
from  Brown  University.  Prof.  C.  L.  Herrick,  was 
born  in  Minneapolis  in  1858,  and  graduated  at  the 
Minnesota  State  University  in  1880,  becoming  at  once 
instructor  there  in  botany  and  zoology.  One  year, 
1881-82,  was  spent  in  Europe.  Upon  his  return  he 
w^as  engaged  during  two  years,  1883—85,  upon  the 
geological  survey  in  Minnesota.  Then,  after  three 
years'  service  in  the  University  of  Cincinnati,  he 
became  professor  of  biology  at  Denison.  He  was 
widely  known  as  a  contributor  to  scientific  journals, 
and  honored  with  memberships  in  numerous  scien- 
tific associations.  These  are  a  few  names  among 
many  deserving  of  special  honor  among  Western 
educators  as  connected  with  Denison  University. 


32G    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTEEN  STATES 

Among  Western  educators  of  whom  like  special 
mention  should  be  made,  was  Edward  Olney,  ll.  d., 
during  his  later  life  professor  of  mathematics  in 
the  University  of  Michigan,  but  from  1853  to  1863, 
holding  the  same  professorship  at  Kalamazoo.  Born 
in  Moreau,  Saratoga  Co.,  N.  Y.,  in  1827,  he  began 
teaching  at  nineteen  years  of  age,  acquiring  his  own 
education  very  much  in  private  study,  prosecuted 
with  singular  industry  and  perseverance.  In  his  con- 
nection with  the  institution  at  Kalamazoo  he  became 
widely  and  honorably  known  as  a  mathematician  and 
an  instructor,  and  after  his  acceptance  of  the  profes- 
sorship at  Ann  Arbor,  achieved  a  national  reputation 
as  an  author  of  mathematical  works,  ranking  with  the 
best  then  in  use.  In  his  own  denomination,  as  a  Bap- 
tist, he  was  greatly  valued  as  a  devout  Christian  man, 
earnest  in  many  forms  of  service,  especially  in  Sunday- 
schools.  During  four  years,  1875-79,  he  served  as 
president  of  the  Michigan  Baptist  State  Convention. 
His  death,  in  the  meridian  of  his  life  and  usefulness, 
was  widely  lamented  as  a  loss  not  only  to  the  denom- 
ination but  to  American  education. 

Associated  with  Prof  Olney,  and  like  minded 
with  him  in  many  things,  was  Professor  Daniel  Put- 
nam. Descended  from  a  genuine  Puritan  stock,  a 
native  of  New  Hampshire,  born  in  1824,  Prof.  Put- 
nam fought  his  own  way  to  an  education,  graduat- 
ing at  Dartmouth  College  in  1851,  and  at  a  later 
date    pursuing    post-graduate    studies    at   Amherst. 


EDUCATION  327 

Having  gained  for  his  wife  the  daughter  of  Eli  B. 
Smith,  D.  D.,  for  so  many  years  president  of  the  New 
Hampton  Literary  and  Theological  Institute,  in 
New  Hampshire,  afterward  removed  to  Fairfax, 
Va.,  he  was  for  a  time  associated  with  him  in  the 
work  of  instruction,  but  in  1851  came  to  Michigan 
as  professor  of  Latin  in  Kalamazoo  College.  After 
four  years  of  service  in  this  professorship,  he  became 
superintendent  of  schools  in  Kalamazoo,  rendering 
important  service  in  what  had  not  before  been  at- 
tempted there,  the  organization  of  the  schools  in  a 
working  system.  In  1865  he  became  again  con- 
nected with  the  college,  and  upon  the  resignation  of 
President  J.  M.  Gregory  served  one  year  as  the  act- 
ing president.  His  subsequent  educational  service 
was  as  county  superintendent  of  schools,  and  as  prin- 
cipal of  the  State  Normal  School  at  Ypsilanti. 
Other  spheres  of  service  have  been  as  mayor  of 
Ypsilanti  during  two  years,  and  as  treasurer,  subse- 
quently as  president,  of  the  Michigan  Baptist  State 
Convention.  Valuable  works  upon  the  theory  and 
practice  of  teaching  have  come  from  his  pen,  includ- 
ing, "  An  Elementary  Psychology,"  and  a  "  Primer 
of  Pedagogy  " ;  also  "  Twenty-five  Years  with  the 
Insane,"  suggested  by  his  connection  during  many 
years  with  the  institution  at  Ypsilanti  for  that  class 
of  unfortunates,  as  its  chaplain. 

The  faculty  of  Franklin  College,  in  1894,  gave 
to  the  divinity  school  at  Chicago  an  accomplished 


328    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

scholar  and  able  teacher  in  the  person  of  Prof.  J. 
W.  Moncrief,  who  had  served  many  years  at  Frank- 
lin as  professor  of  history.  Remaining  upon  the 
list  of  capable  teachers  were  eight  others,  among 
whom  we  name  Rev.  Columbus  Hall,  vice-presi- 
dent and  professor  of  the  Greek  language  and 
literature ;  Miss  Rebecca  Thompson,  professor  of 
mathematics,  pure  and  applied ;  David  A.  Owens, 
A.  M.,  professor  of  biology ;  Francis  W.  Brown,  A. 
M.,  PH.  D.,  professor  of  the  Latin  language  and 
literature ;  Wellington  B.  Johnson,  A.  m.,  professor 
of  chemistry  and  physics. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

EDUCATION — ^THEOLOGICAL  AND  SECONDARY 


TOURING  the  early  decades  of  the  present  cen- 
^-^  tury,  Cincinnati  was  the  most  important  com- 
mercial center  of  the  West.  In  1820  Cliicago  had 
not  yet  come  into  existence,  St.  Louis  was  a  mere 
traders'  settlement,  and  Louisville  a  modest  town  of 
some  four  thousand  inhabitants.  The  traffic  of  the 
entire  region  drained  by  the  Mississippi  River  and 
its  tributaries  was  transported  by  water,  and  Cincin- 
nati was  practically  the  only  market  in  which  the 
surplus  products  of  the  South  and  West  could  be 
exchanged  for  Eastern  and  Northern  manufactures. 
The  application  of  steam  to  river  navigation  in  the 
decade  between  1820  and  1830  greatly  strengthened 
and  developed  these  natural  advantages.^ 

In  these  circumstances  it  was  natural  for  those 
who  had  planted  at  this  center  the  first  Baptist 
church  in  the  entire  Northwest,  had  organized  the 
first  Association,  the  first  State  Convention,  and  the 

1  "Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  in  Historical  and  Politi- 
cal Science,"  Twelfth  vSeries,  I.,  II.  "The  Cincinnati  Southern 
Railway,  a  Study  in  Municipal  Activity,"  by  J.  H.  Hollander, 
Fellow  in  Economics,  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

329 


330    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

first  Education  Society,  and  had  led  the  way  in  direct 
measures  for  creating  institutions  of  higher  learning, 
should  feel  the  obligations  of  leadership  in  denomi- 
national enterprises  in  whatever  the  rapid  develop- 
ment going  forward  under  their  eye  might  call  for. 

It  was  with  a  view  to  such  responsibilities  and 
opportunities  that  the  general  convention  of  "West- 
ern Baptists  held  at  Cincinnati,  Nov.  6,  1833,  was 
called.  "  It  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  reli- 
gious convention  of  a  general  character  whose  con- 
stituency crossed  State  lines,  west  of  the  Allegha- 
nies."^  The  convention  was  held  in  the  Sixth  Street 
(now  Ninth  Street)  Baptist  Church.  Of  distin- 
guished men  present  from  the  East  may  be  named, 
Jonathan  Going,  Howard  Malcolm,  R.  E.  Pattison, 
Alfred  Bennett,  Heman  Lincoln,  Elisha  Tucker,  G. 
F.  Davis,  Henry  Jackson,  Jonathan  Wade,  mission- 
ary to  Burma,  then  on  a  visit  home.  The  presence 
of  men  like  these,  coming  such  distances,  with  means 
of  travel  such  as  they  then  were,  clearly  shows  how 
important  was  felt  to  be  all  that  concerned  right  use 
of  opportunities  in  the  rapidly  developing  West. 

Of  Western  men  present  we  find  such  names  as 
John  M.  Peck,  from  Illinois ;  Lewis  Morgan,  In- 
diana ;  Hezekiah  Johnson  and  John  Stevens,  Ohio ; 
Silas  Mercer  Noel,  Kentucky.  Mr.  Noel  was  made 
president  of  the  convention  and  John  Stevens  and 
Henry  Wingate,  secretaries.     The  discussions  of  the 

1  Mr.  Geo.  E.  Stevens,  in  the  "Standard "  of  Jan.  25,  1891. 


EDUCATION  331 

convention  covered  the  whole  ground  of  needful 
undertakings  in  occupancy  of  the  Western  field ; 
home  missions,  ministerial  education,  religious  jour- 
nalism, Bible  distribution,  Sunday-schools,  tract  dis- 
tribution, foreign  missions,  and  in  general  the  ques- 
tions then  in  agitation  between  friends  and  oppo- 
nents of  all  such  forms  of  extra  church  enterprise. 
It  seems  to  have  been  expected  that  the  convention 
would  be  considerably  more  than  just  a  single  great 
gathering  of  representative  men,  a  constitution  being 
regularly  adopted,  with  objects  of  the  organization 
and  terms  of  representative  membership  defined. 

The  result  did  not  prove  as  anticipated.  The 
convention  mainly  served,  in  the  language  of  Mr. 
Stevens,  as  "the  pioneer  of  Baptist  deliberative 
bodies  other  than  local  churches  in  Central  North 
America,"  and  also,  it  may  be  added,  for  stimulus 
in  Christian  enterprise  among  Christian  men.  One 
more  definite  result,  however,  followed.  The  con- 
vention, among  its  several  acts  recommended  that 
"  steps  be  taken  to  establish  a  great  central  institu- 
tion, exclusively  theological,  for  the  Baptist  de- 
nomination in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi."  That 
Cincinnati  or  its  vicinity  must  be  the  most  suitable 
point  for  locating  such  an  institution  it  was  natural 
to  assume,  in  view  of  its  central  position  at  the  time 
as  indicated  above.  Nor,  save  for  one  element  in 
the  whole  case,  would  such  an  educational  enterprise 
as  the  one  proposed   have   been  other  than  most 


332    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

promising.  However  subsequent  events  might  have 
changed  the  outlook  as  regards  the  field  north  and 
west  in  "  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  it  is  easy  to 
see  what  a  commanding  center  of  educational  power 
the  proposed  institution  might  have  been  in  all  the 
States  bordering  on  the  Ohio,  whether  north  or  south 
of  that  noble  stream.  There  seems  no  good  reason 
why  the  institution  actually  planted,  as  we  have  now 
to  recount,  only  for  one  unfortunate  cause,  should 
not  to-day  be  one  of  the  most  prosperous  and  useful 
of  Baptist  ministerial  schools,  whether  East  or  West. 
Upon  the  adjournment  of  the  convention,  those 
under  whose  leadership  it  had  been  called  took 
measures  in  seeking  to  realize  one,  at  least,  of  its 
purposes.  In  1835  the  Western  Education  Society 
was  formed  as  a  preliminary.  In  the  planting  of 
the  "central  institution,  exclusively  theological," 
contemplated  in  the  act  of  the  convention,  it  was 
evidently  proposed  that  Ohio  and  Kentucky  should 
share.  In  this  view  the  original  site  of  the  theo- 
logical seminary  was  selected  in  what  is  now  a  cen- 
tral part  of  Covington  in  the  latter  State,  directly 
opposite  Cincinnati.  Eight  Baptists  of  Cincinnati 
purchased  there  a  tract  of  land,  three  hundred  and 
seventy  acres  in  extent,  much  of  it  no  doubt  being 
intended  for  sale  as  endowment.  The  price  paid 
was  thirty-three  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  We  find  the  names  of  the  purchasers  given 
as  Ephraim  Robins,  John  Stevens,  Isaac  Colby,  S. 


EDUCATION  333 

W.  Lynd,  J.  B.  Cook,  Noble  S.  Johnson,  Henry- 
Miller,  and  Aaron  G.  Gano.  A  charter  was  ob- 
tained for  the  proposed  seminary,  under  the  name 
of  the  Western  Baptist  Theological  Institute,  the 
charter,  as  granted  by  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky, 
bearing  date  February  5,  1840.  A  faculty  was 
chosen,  with  R.  E.  Pattison,  E.  G.  Robinson,  and 
Ebenezer  Dodge  as  the  leading  members. 

Scarcely  has  any  educational  enterprise  originated 
by  Baptists  been  created  under  what  might  seem 
better  auspices.  The  endowment  in  laud,  in  the 
growth  of  the  city  where  the  institution  had  been 
planted,  must  have  yielded  in  time  a  large  result. 
The  field  from  which  to  draw  students  and  general 
support  comprehended  large  districts  on  both  sides 
of  the  river,  whose  demand  for  ministerial  supply 
must  keep  pace  with  the  material  development. 
The  men  in  charge  of  the  work  of  instruction  have 
since  demonstrated,  in  the  most  conclusive  way, 
what  a  great  school  must  have  grown  up  under  their 
hands,  had  a  united  support  been  given  them,  and 
had  the  founders  of  the  institution  had  no  other  in- 
terests in  view  than  simply  the  work  committed  to 
their  care. 

The  painful  history  which  followed,  due  to  one 
unhappy  cause,  need  not  here  be  traced  in  detail. 
So  early  as  1847  questions  connected  with  slavery 
began  to  agitate  and  divide  the  Board  of  direction. 
Influences  of  the  same  general  character  as  had  al- 


334    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

ready  v/rought  division  in  the  management  of  for- 
eign and  home  missions  were  operative  here  also. 
The  question  mainly  in  agitation  was  whether  the 
chief  control  in  the  institute  should  be  in  the  hands 
of  Northern  or  Southern  men,  the  opposers  or  the  up- 
holders of  slavery.  In  1847  a  change  in  the  char- 
ter was  secured  by  Kentucky  members  of  the  Board, 
creating  sixteen  new  trustees,  and  naming  them  in 
such  a  way  as  to  secure  for  the  Southern  members  an 
overwhelming  majority.  All  the  new  appointees 
were  citizens  of  Kentucky. 

Against  these  proceedings  members  of  the  Board 
who  had  not  been  consulted  regarding  these  amend- 
ments of  the  charter,  and  who  now  found  them- 
selves in  a  minority  so  disheartening,  naturally  re- 
volted. When  the  new  trustees,  four  of  the  former 
ones  uniting  with  them,  demanded  possession  of  the 
property,  this  was  refused  them  by  the  custodian. 
Suit  was  brought  to  compel  him  to  deliver  the  prop- 
erty and  the  petition  was  granted.  An  appeal  was 
then  had  to  the  Kentucky  Court  of  Appeals,  and  by 
this  court  the  decision  of  the  lower  court  was  re- 
versed, the  act  of  the  legislature  being  declared  un- 
constitutional and  void.^ 

The  agitation  growing  out  of  these  proceedings 

1  We  are  indebted  for  these  particulars  to  Mr.  George  E.  Stevens, 
of  Cincinnati,  who  as  son  of  Prof  John  Stevens,  active  in  the 
founding  and  early  history  of  tlie  institute,  and  as  for  many 
years  conversant  with  denominational  matters  in  Ohio  and  Ken- 
tucky, may  be  accepted  as  authority. 


EDUCATION  335 

continued  for  a  period  of  some  six  years.  In  1853 
a  compromise  was  effected  in  which  a  division  of  the 
property  and  equipment  of  the  institute  was  made. 
A  part  went  to  that  section  of  the  Board  which  rep- 
resented the  North,  and  was  used  by  them  in  found- 
ing the  Fairmount  Theological  Seminary  on  the 
Ohio  side  of  the  river.  The  other  part,  amounting 
to  some  forty-eight  thousand  dollars,  was  transferred 
to  the  college  at  Georgetown,  Ky.,  for  purposes  of 
theological  instruction,  although  under  a  manage- 
ment in  some  respects  distinct  from  that  of  the  col- 
lege. The  Fairmount  Seminary  failed  of  adequate 
support,  and  in  a  few  years  ceased  to  exist. 

What  we  have  described  remained  for  many  years 
the  only  educational  enterprise,  distinctively  theo- 
logical, undertaken  by  Baptists  in  the  West.  The 
founding  of  other  institutions,  however,  had  always 
in  view  the  education  of  a  ministry  suited  to  the 
needs  of  the  Western  field.  When  Shurtleff  College 
was  thus  planted,  the  school  of  Dr.  John  M.  Peck 
at  Rock  Spring  being  transferred  to  Upper  Alton 
and  connected  with  it,  the  theological  purpose  was 
still  in  a  general  way  kept  in  mind.  A  collegiate 
education  would  still  be  in  so  far  a  preparation  for 
the  ministry,  and  in  urging  the  claims  of  the  college 
this  motive  was  always  kept  clearly  in  view.  The 
same  was  true  in  regard  to  Franklin  and  Kalamazoo 
colleges,  and  the  University  of  Chicago. 

At  Kalamazoo,  however,  more  than  this  was,  for 


336    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

a  time,  attempted.  In  1848  measures  were  entered 
upon  for  creating  a  distinctively  theological  depart- 
ment, so  that  the  college  should  embrace  faculties 
preparatory,  collegiate,  and  theological.  In  1850 
Dr.  J.  A.  B.  Stone  was  appointed  in  conjunction 
with  other  duties,  professor  of  biblical  literature  and 
theology.  Rev.  Samuel  Graves,  d.  d.,  who  upon 
completing  his  studies  at  Madison  University  in 
1847,  and  serving  the  university  one  year  as  tutor 
in  Greek,  had  in  1848  become  pastor  of  the  church 
in  Ann  Arbor,  was  in  1851  called  to  the  chair  of 
Greek  in  the  college  at  Kalamazoo  and  of  systematic 
theology  in  the  seminary  there.  This  professorship 
he  held  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  those  interested 
in  the  college  and  its  work  until  1859,  a  period  of 
eight  years.  He  then  resigned  to  become  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  church  in  Norwich,  Conn.,  ten  years 
later  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Grand  Rapids,  Mich., 
becoming  after  years  of  eminent  service  the  presi- 
dent of  the  theological  seminary  for  the  education 
of  colored  Baptist  ministers  in  Atlanta,  Ga.  At  the 
time  of  the  retirement  of  Dr.  Graves  from  his  pro- 
fessorship at  Kalamazoo,  in  1859,  it  was  judged  not 
expedient  to  sustain  this  department  longer,  and  it 
was  accordingly  discontinued. 

About  the  time  distinctively  theological  work  was 
discontinued  at  Kalamazoo,  it  was  formally  taken  up 
by  Shurtleff  College.  Of  this  college  Dr.  Daniel 
Read  was  then  the  president,  and  through  his  in- 


EDUCATION  337 

fluence  the  gift  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  was  re- 
ceived for  the  college  from  Mr.  Elijah  Gove,  of 
Quincy,  111.  Upon  this  foundation  a  theological 
department  was  organized,  with  Dr.  R.  E.  Pattison 
and  Dr.  E.  C.  Mitchell  appointed  as  professors. 
After  some  eight  years  of  service,  1862-70,  these 
gentlemen  became  connected  with  the  new  theolog- 
ical seminary  at  Chicago.  Dr.  A.  A.  Kendrick  hav- 
ing then  become  president  of  the  college,  the  duties 
of  professor  of  theology  were  attached  to  his  chair. 
Dr.  Justus  Bulkley  had  already,  in  1864,  been  called 
from  his  pastorate  at  Carrollton  to  the  chair  of 
church  history  and  church  polity.  In  1875  Prof. 
J.  C  C.  Clarke  became  professor  of  biblical  lan- 
guages and  interpretation. 

The  theological  department  at  Shurtleff  College 
has  sent  many  valuable  men  into  the  ministry. 
From  Kalamazoo,  also,  during  the  incumbency  of 
Dr.  Graves  especially,  highly  important  service  in 
this  direction  was  rendered.  In  these  two  institu- 
tions a  deficiency  in  Western  education  which  was 
more  and  more  felt  as  the  country  developed,  was 
supplied  to  the  extent  made  possible  by  the  resources 
and  equipment  at  their  command. 

The  initiative,  as  regards  that  work  in  theolog- 
ical education  which  subsequently  found  its  center 
at  Chicago,  was  taken  by  the  Baptists  of  Wisconsin. 
The  subject  of  education,  not  indeed  as  distinctively 
theological,  but  as  having  the  interest  of  ministerial 

w 


338    IIISTOKY  OF  BArTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

provision  well  in  view,  was  among  those  earliest 
taken  in  hand  by  denominational  leaders  in  that 
State.  As  early  as  1842,  in  fact,  there  was  a  meet- 
ing of  delegates  from  churches  of  the  Milwaukee 
Association,  to  consider  the  subject  of  establishing  a 
theological  institution.  Such  movements  may  have 
been  in  some  sense  premature,  yet  in  another  sense 
they  were  not,  since  there  must  always  be  initiation 
for  any  movement  having  important  results  in  view, 
and  steps  of  preparation,  in  what  seems  transient 
and  inoperative,  for  that  which  is  permanent. 

In  1851  occurred  what  showed  that  the  trend  of 
denominational  interest  in  this  behalf  was  having  a 
right  direction,  although  the  outcome  was  not  as  yet 
fully  in  sight.  In  the  year  named  a  convention  was. 
held  at  Beloit,  in  which  appeared  a  representation 
that  was  sio-nificant  of  decided  advancement  as  to 
educational  policy,  not  only  in  Wisconsin,  but  in  ad- 
jacent States.  Mr.  Nathaniel  Crosby,  'of  Janesville, 
was  president  of  the  Convention,  and  Rev.  J.  W. 
Fish,  of  Geneva,  secretary.  Among  those  present 
were  two  from  the  college  at  Kalamazoo,  represent- 
ing especially  its  theological  department,  President 
J.  A.  B.  Stone  and  Prof.  Samuel  Graves.  From 
Illinois  came  Rev.  Ichabod  Clark,  of  Rockford,  Rev. 
Charles  Hill  Roe,  of  Belvidere,  Rev.  James  Scho- 
field,  of  Freeport,  with  his  son,  James  V.  Schofield, 
Rev.  Lewis  Raymond,  of  Chicago,  Rev.  A.  J.  Jos- 
lyn,  of  Elgin,  Prof.  S.  S.  Whitman,  of  Belvidere ; 


EDUCATION  339 

while  Wisconsin  was  represented  by  such  men  as 
Rev.  James  Delany,  Rev.  E.  L.  Harris,  Rev.  P. 
Conrad,  Rev.  J.  H.  Dudley,  and  others  like  these 
active  in  creating  the  public  sentiment  of  which  this 
movement  was  the  fruit. 

The  wise  thought  in  the  minds  of  those  who  had 
thus  come  together,  was  the  establishment  of  an  edu- 
cational institution,  adequate  in  scope  to  future  as 
well  as  present  demands,  at  some  point  that  should 
be  central  to  the  several  States  of  Wisconsin,  Illi- 
nois, Iowa,  and  perhaps  Michigan.  The  brethren 
representing  the  last-named  State,  Drs.  Stone  and 
Graves,  naturally  desired  that  the  college  at  Kala- 
mazoo should  be  accepted  for  this  purpose.  The 
proposal  was  entertained  in  a  friendly  spirit,  but 
not  being  thought  to  meet  all  conditions  of  the  case 
failed  of  adoption.  They  of  Wisconsin  appear  to 
have  favored  Beloit  as  such  a  center ;  those  of  Illi- 
nois, Belvidere.  Leaving  these  matters  for  a  later 
decision,  the  convention  appears  to  have  contented 
itself  with  steps  preliminary  to  the  organization  of  a 
Northwestern  Education  Society,  in  which  along 
with  the  States  already  named,  Minnesota  should  be 
included.  Such  an  organization  was  accordingly 
made,  a  constitution  adopted,  and  a  Board  of  direc- 
tors chosen.  Under  this  constitution  Rev.  Elisha 
Tucker,  of  Chicago,  was  elected  president.  Rev.  Jirah 
D.  Cole,  also  of  Chicago,  corresponding  secretary, 
with  L.  W.  Lawrence,  of  Belvidere,  S.  Haskell,  of 


340    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Detroit,  H.  G.  Weston,  of  Peoria,  and  O.  J.  Dear- 
born, of  Janesville,  members. 

Results  showed  that  the  times  were  not  yet  ripe 
for  what  the  organization  of  such  a  society  contem- 
plated. The  question  of  location  for  the  proposed 
institution  was  in  the  way  of  any  united  action. 
There  seems  indeed  to  have  been  no  subsequent 
meeting  of  the  society,  although  an  address  to  the 
churches  was  issued  by  the  directors,  urging  the  im- 
portance of  united  action  in  this  behalf.  The  form 
assumed  by  the  educational  interest  in  Wisconsin,  of 
which  that  convention  was  a  sign,  will  be  noticed 
farther  on  in  this  record.  The  effort  to  secure  co- 
operation on  the  part  of  adjoining  States  appears  not 
to  have  been  resumed. 

The  next  convention  having  in  view  provision 
for  theological  education,  although  in  this  case  dis- 
tinctively such,  was  held  in  Chicago  in  1860.  It 
was  called,  not  upon  any  widely  concerted  plan,  al- 
though after  a  somewhat  extended  correspondence 
with  persons  interested.  The  three  names  signed  to 
the  call  were  W.  W.  Everts,  J.  B.  Olcott,  and  J.  A. 
Smith.  The  meeting  was  held  in  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  Chicago.  Although  the  attendance  was 
small,  it  was  resolved,  nevertheless,  to  proceed  with 
measures  to  secure  the  purpose  in  contemplation. 
The  organization  resolved  upon  was  to  have  the 
name  of  the  Baptist  Theological  Union  for  the 
Northwest.     A  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare 


EDUCATION  341 

and  report  a  constitution  at  another  meeting  to  be 
held  in  the  year  following.  In  1861  this  meet- 
ing was  held  accordingly,  with  further  preliminary 
steps  taken.  On  this  occasion  the  attendance  was 
larger,  but  the  movement  did  not  take  final  shape 
until  1863.  A  constitution  was  then  adopted,  Hon. 
Richard  S.  Thomas  being  chosen  president.  Rev. 
Luther  Stone  secretary,  and  Edward  Goodman  treas- 
urer. Circumstances,  partly  owing  to  the  fact  that 
the  Civil  War  was  prevailing,  did  not  admit  of 
rapid  progress  in  developing  what  had  thus  been  un- 
dertaken, and  accordingly  the  charter  of  incorpora- 
tion for  the  Baptist  Theological  Union,  as  organized, 
was  not  obtained  until  1865,  bearing  date  February 
16,  in  that  year. 

The  object  of  the  organization  so  formed  was  the 
creation  of  a  corporate  body  which  should  have  in 
charge  the  founding  and  building  of  a  theological 
seminary  at  Chicago.  In  a  time  of  civil  war,  how- 
ever, and  while  the  University  of  Chicago,  then  re- 
cently founded,  needed  unhindered  occupancy  of  the 
field  for  securing  its  own  endowanent,  it  was  judged 
unwise  to  press  the  movement  for  a  theological  semi- 
nary, or  to  attempt  more  for  the  time  being  than 
what  should  be  necessarily  preliminary.  Even 
when,  in  1866,  it  was  decided  to  begin  a  work  of 
theological  instruction  at  Chicago,  no  attempt  was 
made  to  organize  a  faculty.  Dr.  Nathaniel  Colver, 
then  pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church,  Chicago, 


342    HISTOEY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

was  invited  to  open  a  class  for  instruction  in  biblical 
theology,  and  Prof.  J.  C.  C.  Clarke,  who  had  filled 
during  one  year  the  chair  of  Greek  in  the  university, 
Prof.  Mixer,  its  incumbent,  being  engaged  in  an- 
other department  of  university  service,  was  asso- 
ciated with  Dr.  Colver,  as  teacher  of  New  Testament 
Greek  and  interpretation.  Under  these  instructors 
classes  were  organized  with  some  twelve  students  and 
the  work  began.  The  expenses  were  chiefly  met  by 
personal  friends  of  Dr.  Colver  at  the  East :  W.  W. 
Cook,  Esq.,  of  Whitehall,  N.  Y.,  and  Messrs  Barnes 
and  Davis,  of  Burlington,  Vt. 

In  May,  1867,  an  occasion  of  great  interest  oc- 
curred in  Chicago — the  meeting  of  the  national 
Baptist  anniversaries  for  that  year.  Great  prepara- 
tions had  been  made,  and  invitations  sent  abroad  in 
a  form  to  command  a  measure  of  attendance  far  be- 
yond what  is  usual  at  such  times.  The  city  had 
already  become  famous  for  the  rapidity  of  its  early 
growth,  while  the  new  enterprises  in  education  at  a 
point  so  central  and  important  invested  both  the 
place  and  the  occasion  with  uncommon  interest. 

While  the  anniversaries  were  in  session,  opportu- 
nity was  found  for  directing  attention,  in  a  way  of 
public  meetings  with  addresses,  to  the  educational 
undertakings  in  Chicago,  one  of  which,  the  univer- 
sity, had  already  been  in  progress  during  some  ten 
years,  with  encouraging  results,  while  the  other,  the ' 
theological  seminary,  was  on  the  point  of  opening 


EDUCATION  343 

with  new  and  enlarged  plans  in  view.  Dr.  Na- 
thaniel Colver  had  accepted  a  position  of  service  at 
Richmond,  Va.,  in  connection  with  the  education  of 
a  ministry  for  the  freedmen  of  the  South.  Prof. 
Clarke  had  become  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in 
Madison,  Wis.  Steps  for  the  organization  of  a  regu- 
lar faculty  had  already  been  taken,  and  two  of  the 
chairs  filled  :  G.  W.  Northrup,  as  professor  of  sys- 
tematic theology  and  president,  being  already  upon 
the  ground,  and  Rev.  J.  B.  Jackson,  as  professor  of 
church  history. 

Dr.  Northrup,  born  at  Antwerp,  Jefferson  County, 
N.  Y.,  had  been  educated  at  Williams  College,  Mass., 
under  President  Mark  Hopkins,  and  at  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  in  Rochester,  where  Dr.  E.  G. 
Robinson  was  president.  It  is  evidence  of  the  repu- 
tation gained  while  yet  a  student,  that  immediately 
upon  his  graduation  at  Rochester,  in  1857,  he  had 
been  appointed  instructor  in  church  history  in  the 
seminary.  Of  qualification  for  service  in  other 
branches  of  advanced  learning  he  had  given  proof 
on  occasion  of  his  graduation  at  Williams,  having 
been  chosen  to  deliver  the  metaphysical  oration, 
probably  the  highest  graduate  honor  in  that  college. 
Ten  years  of  service  in  the  full  professorship  of 
church  history,  to  which  he  was  soon  advanced,  es- 
tablished his  reputation  for  learning  and  for  supe- 
rior ability  as  an  instructor.  It  is  said  of  him  that 
probably  better  work  in   the  department  assigned 


344    HISTORY  OF  BAPTLSTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

him  has  never  been  done  in  any  theological  seminary 
in  this  country.  As  a  preacher,  while  supplying  in 
connection  with  this  service  for  a  year  and  a  half 
the  pulpit  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Rochester, 
he  had  gained  a  place  in  the  foremost  ranks  of  the 
Baptist  ministry.  His  acceptance  of  the  presidency 
and  professorship  of  theology  in  the  new  seminary 
was  regarded  as  pledging  the  nascent  institution  to 
service  of  the  highest  class  in  ministerial  training — 
a  pledge  which,  in  subsequent  years,  was  amply 
redeemed. 

Prof.  Jackson,  a  native  of  Illinois,  was  a  gradu- 
ate of  ShurtleflP  College  and  of  the  seminary  at 
Rochester.  Upon  finishing  his  studies  at  the  latter 
institution  he  had  served  for  some  time  as  pastor  of 
the  Baptist  church  in  Albion,  N.  Y.  As  a  pupil  of 
Dr.  Northrup  he  had  won  his  esteem  and  his  confi- 
dence, so  that  upon  accepting  the  call  to  the  new 
service  at  Chicago,  Dr.  Northrup  fixed  upon  him  as 
his  choice  for  an  associate  in  his  Avork.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1867,  Rev.  G.  W.  Warren,  a.  m.,  of  Boston, 
was  elected  professor  of  Hebrew  and  exegesis,  and 
on  October  2nd  of  that  year  instruction  began. 

At  the  gathering  in  May  of  the  year  of  which 
mention  is  made  above,  both  the  university  and  the 
seminary  were  represented  in  addresses  by  distin- 
guished men,  and  in  the  presence  of  overflowing 
audiences.  A  glance  at  the  names  of  those  thus 
taking  part  is  a  suggestive  reminder  of  the  changes 


EDUCATION  345 

which  time  has  brought  in  the  register  of  names 
prominent  on  occasions  of  the  kind.  As  speaking 
for  the  university,  we  find  Hon.  W.  B.  Ogden,  of 
Chicago,  then  president  of  the  trustees,  and  who 
presided  at  this  meeting ;  Dr.  William  Hague, 
Thomas  Hoyne,  Hon.  J.  W.  Duncan,  of  Worcester, 
Mass. ;  Dr.  G.  S.  Bailey,  then  superintendent  of  mis- 
sions in  Illinois  ;  Hon.  J.  Y.  Scammon,  and  Dr.  Reu- 
ben Jeffrey,  of  Philadelphia,  with  a  poem  by  Hon. 
Charles  Thurber,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  At  the  semi- 
nary gathering,  Wm.  Phelps,  Esq.,  of  New  York, 
presiding,  the  addresses  were  by  Dr.  Northrup,  J. 
G.  Warren,  d.  d.,  then  foreign  secretary  of  the 
Missionary  Union  ;  Dr.  Hague,  Dr.  George  B.  Ide, 
Dr.  J.  S.  Backus,  secretary  of  the  Home  Mission 
Society ;  Dr.  Armitage,  Dr.  Eaton,  of  Madison 
University,  and  Rev.  C.  E.  Hewitt,  then  of  Michi- 
gan, at  the  date  of  this  present  writing  financial 
secretary  of  the  seminary,  now  the  divinity  school 
of  the  new  university.  Of  all  these  whose  spirited 
addresses  testified  to  the  fullness  of  life  and  power 
enjoyed  by  them,  all  save  three  have  passed  from 
the  scene  of  human  activity,  and  now  live  on  earth 
only  in  deeds  of  service  whose  fruit  never  dies,  and 
in  words  of  wisdom  and  inspiration  which  become 
a  part  of  the  history  they  united  to  celebrate. 

The  seminary  opened  with  a  regular  faculty,  as 
we  have  said,  in  October,  1867.  Subscriptions 
toward  endowment  had  already  been  made  testifying 


346    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

to  the  interest  felt  in  the  new  enterprise  by  influen- 
tial men.  Seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  by 
Messrs.  Cook,  of  Whitehall,  N.  Y.,  and  Davis  and 
Barnes,  of  Burlington,  Vt,  of  whose  substantial 
interest  at  the  beginning  under  Dr.  Colver  our  nar- 
rative already  aifords  evidence ;  five  thousand  dol- 
lars each  by  Messrs.  Jas.  E.  Tyler  and  C.  B.  Good- 
year, of  Chicago ;  three  thousand  dollars  by  Mr.  C. 
N.  Holden,  of  Chicago ;  two  thousand  dollars  by 
Mr.  J.  M.  Van  Osdell,  and  one  thousand  dollars 
each  by  Messrs.  D.  H.  Sheldon  and  Charles  H. 
Keed,  both,  like  Mr.  Van  Osdell,  of  Chicago ;  five 
thousand  dollars  each  by  Mr.  M.  L.  Pierce,  of  La- 
fayette, Ind.,  and  James  B.  Colgate,  of  New  York. 
Smaller  amounts  were  also  subscribed  by  members 
of  the  church  in  Evanston,  aggregating  three  thou- 
sand five  hundred  dollars,  with  others  whose  names 
and  the  amounts  have  not  been  preserved,  in  the 
Second  and  the  Indiana  Avenue  Churches. 

The  election  of  Dr.  G.  S.  Bailey,  as  corresponding 
and  financial  secretary,  secured  for  the  seminary  an 
executive  officer  whose  service  in  subsequent  years 
was  of  the  utmost  value.  Dr.  Bailey  was  a  native 
of  Pennsylvania,  born  in  1822.'  Studying  at  acade- 
mies in  that  State  and  in  Cazenovia,  N.  Y.,  he  came 
to  Oberlin  College,  Ohio,  when  about  twenty  years 
of  age,  and  was  there  converted.  Returning  to  his 
native  place,  Abington,  Pa.,  he  was  there  baptized 
October  16,  1842.     After  two  or  three  years  spent 


EDUCATION  347 

in  teaching,  he  was  ordained  in  May,  1845,  and  in 
that  year  was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  E.  Bunnell,  of 
Honesdale,  Pa.  Coming  West  in  184(3,  under  ap- 
pointment of  the  Home  Mission  Society,  he  served 
three  years  as  pastor  at  Springfield,  111.,  six  years  as 
pastor  of  the  churches  in  Pekin  and  Fremont,  jointly, 
six  years  at  Metamora,  and  two  at  Morris.  Having 
thus  served  seventeen  years  as  an  Illinois  pastor,  he 
became  superintendent  of  missions  for  the  State  in 
1863,  and  after  four  years  of  most  valuable  service 
accepted  the  post  in  connection  with  theological 
work  at  Chicago,  of  which  we  have  made  mention. 
This  post  he  held  from  1867  to  1875.  During  this 
period,  as  evidence  of  his  efficiency  in  the  service, 
the  building  so  long  occupied,  begun  in  1868,  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  sixty-five  thousand  dollars,  while 
the  assets  of  the  seminary  had  increased  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  After  pastorates  at 
Pittston,  Pa.,  Niles,  Mich.,  and  Ottumwa,  Iowa, 
fiiilure  of  health  compelled  removal  to  Pomona,  Cali- 
fornia, in  1885,  where  he  died  after  a  lingering  and 
painful  illness,  Sept.  28,  1891.  The  service  of  Dr. 
Bailey  in  connection  with  seminary  work  in  Chicago 
is  a  very  important  part  of  its  history.  Of  his  work 
in  the  origination  of  ministers'  institutes,  we  speak 
farther  on  in  this  chapter.  He  was  for  a  time  assisted 
in  the  agency  work  of  the  seminary  by  Rev.  Thomas 
Allen,  of  Ohio,  and  Rev.  William  M.  Haigh,  of 
Illinois. 


348    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Dr.  Bailey  was  succeeded  in  the  secretaryship  by 
Rev.  T.  W.  Goodspeed,  d.  d.  Dr.  Goodspeed, 
born  at  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.,  in  1843,  had  studied 
at  the  University  of  Chicago,  but  graduated  at 
Rochester,  in  the  university  and  seminary  there. 
His  service  as  pastor,  beginning  with  the  North 
Baptist  Church,  Chicago,  in  1866,  was  continued 
at  the  Vermont  Street  Baptist  Church,  Quincy,  111., 
in  a  highly  successful  service  of  six  years,  then  as 
associate  pastor  with  his  brother.  Rev.  E.  J. 
Goodspeed,  d.  d.,  at  the  Second  Baptist  Church, 
Chicago,  from  1872  to  1876,  when  he  resigned  to 
accept  the  secretaryship  of  the  Theological  Union 
and  Seminary,  that  of  the  Northwestern  Baptist 
Education  Society  being  associated  with  this,  in 
1879.  The  removal  of  the  seminary  to  Morgan 
Park,  in  1877,  was  a  most  important  measure  of 
progress,  and  contributed  to  make  Dr.  Goodspeed's 
term  of  service  a  memorable  one.  Large  accessions 
to  the  endowment  were  made,  financial  burdens  re- 
moved, buildings  erected,  adding  greatly  to  the 
equipment  of  the  seminary,  with  most  important  ac- 
cessions to  the  library.  Dr.  Goodspeed's  connection 
with  the  movement  for  creating  a  new  university  at 
Chicago  terminated  his  direct  service  in  behalf  of 
the  seminary,  although  his  co-operation  in  indirect 
but  important  ways  has  continued. 

Returning  to  our  notice  of  the  work  of  instruction 
in  the  seminary,  we  have  to  speak  of  the  retirement 


EDUCATION  349 

from  the  chair  of  biblical  literature  and  exegesis  of 
Prof.  Warren,  and  the  choice  of  Prof.  A.  N.  Arnold, 
D.  D.,  to  that  chair,  and  of  Dr.  William  Hague  to 
that  of  homiletics,  the  latter  serving  at  the  same 
time  as  pastor  of  the  University  Place  Baptist 
Church.  In  September,  1870,  Prof.  Jackson  re- 
signed, and  Dr.  Hague  was  compelled,  by  the  state 
of  his  wife's  health,  to  return  East.  Prof.  E.  C. 
Mitchell,  D.  D.,  of  Shurtleif  College,  was  then  called 
to  the  chair  of  Hebrew  and  Old  Testament  litera- 
ture, and  Prof.  11.  E.  Pattison,  d.  d.,  to  that  of 
biblical  interpretation  and  history  of  doctrine.  In 
1874,  Rev.  T.  J.  Morgan,  d.  d.,  president  of  the 
Nebraska  State  Normal  School,  was  elected  profes- 
sor of  homiletics,  serving  as  such  until  1879,  when 
he  was  chosen  professor  of  church  history.  Rev.  W. 
W.  Everts,  Jr.,  being  made  assistant  professor  in 
that  department.  In  1877  Prof  Arnold,  having 
been  compelled  by  failure  of  health  to  resign,  Dr. 
J.  R.  Boise  was  called  to  fill  his  place,  the  seminary 
in  the  same  year  being  removed  to  Morgan  Park. 
In  1878,  Prof.  W.  R.  Harper  came  to  the  chair  of 
Hebrew  from  Denison  University,  beginning  thus 
his  distinguished  career  as  a  Semitic  scholar  and 
teacher,  and  an  organizer  of  new  forms  of  work  in 
education.  In  the  year  1884,  Dr.  Morgan  having 
resigned,  Rev.  A.  J.  Sage,  d.  d.,  was  called  from  the 
pastorate  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  in  Hartford, 
Conn.,  to  the  chair  of  homiletics,  associating  with 


350    HISTOEY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

this  the  pastorate  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Morgan 
Park.  The  double  service  proving  too  taxing,  he 
resigned  after  two  years,  the  work  of  the  depart- 
ment being  then  assumed  by  the  other  professors. 
In  1881  Dr.  E.  B.  Hulbert  came  from  the  pastorate 
of  the  Fourth  Church,  Chicago,  to  the  chair  in 
church  history,  which  he  has  since  filled  with  so 
much  distinction,  and  which  now  is  associated  with 
his  office  as  dean  of  the  divinity  school  in  the  new 
University  of  Chicago.  Special  lectureships  were 
in  the  later  portion  of  the  period  here  considered, 
held  by  Galusha  Anderson,  d.  d.,  in  homiletics  and 
pastoral  studies,  and  by  J.  A.  Smith,  d.  d.,  in  mod- 
ern church  history,  comparative  religion,  and  archae- 
ology. 

The  years  betAveen  the  dates  of  1867,  when  the 
seminary  opened,  and  1892,  when  it  became  the 
divinity  school  of  the  new  university,  a  full  quarter 
of  a  century,  constitute  a  period  of  great  importance 
in  ministerial  and  educational  development  among 
Western  Baptists.  In  leading  pulpits  at  the  East 
as  well  as  in  the  West,  the  seminary  at  Morgan  Park 
was  ably  represented.  The  seminary,  as  a  school  of 
training  for  ministers,  took  rank  with  the  best.  Its 
finances  were  managed  with  great  skill  and  prudence, 
avoiding  the  shoals  such  as  those  upon  which  the  old 
university  had  been  wrecked.  The  library  had 
grown,  in  additions  of  the  Hengstenburg  and  Ide 
collections,  to  some  twenty-five  thousand  volumes, 


EDUCATION  351 

and  the  assets  of  the  seminary,  all  Included,  to  not 
far  from  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  These 
financial  results  were  due  to  the  devoted  service  ren- 
dered by  the  trustees,  of  which  body,  Mr.  Ed^var(I 
Goodman,  of  the  "Standard,"  became  treasurer  at 
the  earliest  organization  of  the  Theological  Union  in 
1863,  remaining  in  the  same  office  at  the  date  of  the 
present  record,  a  period  of  full  thirty  years. 


CHAPTER  XV 

EDUCATION THEOLOGICAL   AND   SECONDARY 

II 

THE  commencement  of  the  Baptist  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary  occurring  in  May,  1892,  was 
an  occasion  memorable  in  this  history.  The  insti- 
tution had  been  in  its  new  location  fourteen  years. 
Its  removal  from  the  city  to  this  new  and  more  atr- 
tractive  site  had  been  regarded  as  a  final  one.  Be- 
sides the  building  originally  erected  for  dormitory 
and  lecture-room  purposes,  a  fireproof  library  had 
been  built,  and  a  handsome  and  commodious  edifice 
also  for  lecture  and  chapel  use,  named  Blake  Hall, 
in  honor  of  Mr.  E.  Nelson  Blake,  whose  generous 
gift  for  the  purpose  had  made  its  erection  possible. 
Such  a  step  as  now  became  evidently  the  wise  one 
had  been  at  no  time  contemplated,  and  the  proposal 
of  it,  at  first,  was  something  of  a  shock  to  associa- 
tions in  many  minds  almost  sacred. 

That  the  theological  seminary,  however,  should  be 
in  close  relations  with  the  university  was  clearly  a 
thing  much  to  be  desired.  In  this  view  a  change  of 
location  for  the  seminary  was  in  some  sense  a  neces- 
sity, especially  if  the  two  institutions  were  to  be- 
352 


EDUCATION  353 

come  so  associated  as  to  have  in  any  true  sense  one 
organic  life  in  both.  ISIorgan  Park,  besides,  was 
clearly  the  most  desirable  of  all  locations  near  or  in 
the  city  for  the  academy,  whose  foundation  as  a  de- 
partment of  the  university  would  be  so  important. 
The  result  of  consultations  upon  the  subject  was  a 
transfer  of  the  seminary  to  the  site  selected  for  the 
university  and  its  connection  there  with  the  univer- 
sity as  its  divinity  school,  a  building  for  its  use  in 
direct  connection  with  Cobb  Hall,  the  main  building 
of  the  university,  being  erected  with  money  con- 
tributed for  the  purpose,  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  amount,  by  Mr.  John  D.  Rockefeller. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  seminary  noticed 
above,  in  May,  1892,  this  arrangement  was  consum- 
mated. The  exercises  on  the  occasion,  took  their 
form  very  much  from  this  circumstance.  In  the 
presence  of  a  large  audience  at  the  Baptist  church, 
President  Northrup,  after  an  impressive  address, 
conveyed  to  President  W.  R.  Harper,  who  was  pres- 
ent, the  official  functions  which  he  had  discharged 
with  such  masterly  ability  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, and  Dr.  Harper,  as  president  of  the  university, 
thus  became  the  official  head  also  of  the  seminary 
in  its  new  character  as  divinity  school  of  the  uni- 
versity. In  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  at  the 
Auditorium  in  the  city,  an  immense  audience  was 
addressed  by  Mr.  Blake,  as  president  of  the  univer- 
sity trustees ;  Dr.  P.  S.  Henson,  Dr.  Wayland  Hoyt, 


354    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN   WESTERN  STATES 

and  President  A.  W.  Small,  of  Colby  University, 
thns  signalizing  a  creation  of  new  relations  highly 
important  in  the  history  of  Western  education. 

In  connection  with  this  change  of  situation,  addi- 
tional changes  took  place  also  in  official  relations.  Dr. 
Harper  having  now  l^ecomc  president  of  the  divinity 
school  as  a  department  of  the  university,  Presi- 
dent Northrup  retained  simply  his  functions  as  head 
professor  of  systematic  theology.  Prof.  E.  B.  Hul- 
bert  became  dean  of  the  divinity  school,  and  Prof. 
Ira  M.  Price,  his  department  of  Hebrew  and  Old 
Testament  interpretation  having  been  made  a  de- 
partment in  the  graduate  school  of  the  university, 
became  now  associate  professor  of  the  Semitic  lan- 
guages and  literature  in  the  university. 

Dr.  Hulbert,  while  dean  of  the  divinity  school, 
retained  his  professorship  of  church  history,  which 
he  had  held  at  Morgan  Park  since  1881,  a  term  of 
eleven  years.  A  graduate  of  Union  College,  Sche- 
nectady, N.  Y.,  in  1863,  and  of  Hamilton  Theolog- 
ical Seminary  in  1865,  he  had  before  entering  the 
new  sphere  of  service  filled  important  pastorates  in 
St.  Paul,  San  Francisco,  and  Chicago,  while  in  his 
later  functions  proving  himself  a  magnetic  teacher 
and  a  man  of  rare  executive  energy  and  efficiency. 
Prof.  Price  had  succeeded  to  the  chair  of  Hebrew 
in  the  seminary  left  vacant  in  1886  by  the  removal 
of  Dr.  Harper  to  Yale  University.  With  a  genius 
for  acquisition  in  languages,  he  had  shown  himself 


EDUCATION  355 

no  less  qualified  as  an  instructor.  The  whole  field 
of  Semitic  study  was  familiar  to  him,  with  like  ac- 
quaintance also  with  other  ancient  literatures,  and 
with  those  of  modern  lang-uao-es.  Two  vears  had  been 
spent  by  him  in  study  at  Leipzig,  Germany,  under  Dr. 
Delitszch,  his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  being 
there  acquired. 

In  these  new  arrangements  thus  consummated  the 
property  of  the  theological  seminary  at  Morgan 
Park  became  the  property  of  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago, the  entire  assets,  including  grounds,  buildings, 
library,  and  endowment,  amounting  to  not  far  from 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  Theological 
Union,  by  which  organization  the  seminary  had 
originally  been  founded,  was  continued  in  existence, 
with  the  divinity  school  still  under  its  care,  and  with 
provisions  of  administration  which  guaranteed  all 
rights  of  the  denomination  as  to  ultimate  juris- 
diction and  loyalty  to  those  forms  of  truth  which  to 
Baptists  are  so  dear. 

To  some  extent  the  planting  of  academies  in  these 
Western  States  had,  in  the  forming  of  educational 
plans  quite  from  the  beginning,  been  regarded  as  a 
means  to  an  end,  rather  than  as  an  end  in  itself. 
This  was  partly  due,  no  doubt,  to  the  fact  that  what 
Baptists  in  these  States  most  strongly  felt  as  a  need, 
in  connection  with  other  schools  than  such  as  the 
State  provided,  was  an  educated  ministry.  In  this 
view  they  would  naturally  plan  rather  for  a  college, 


356    HISTOEY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

or  a  theological  seminary,  than  for  an  academy,  save 
as  this  last  might  help  toward  one  or  the  other  of  the 
former.  Then  it  was  often  the  case  that  among  those 
who  were  laying  educational  plans  in  those  days 
were  men  w^ho  themselves  were  educated,  and  who, 
looking  to  a  distant  future,  would  feel  that  such 
plans  ought  to  have  all  the  scope  that  could  reason- 
ably be  given  them.  Added  to  these  is  one  other 
thing  which  has  had  much  to  do  in  influencing  edu- 
cational policy  over  the  whole  Western  field.  Men 
interested  in  the  growth  of  some  young  town,  and 
ambitious  to  command  for  it  as  much  of  central- 
izing influence  as  possible,  making  oifers  of  location 
or  other  inducements  to  those  planning  for  some  edu- 
cational institution,  anxious  that  the  school  planted 
there  should  have  a  name  as  commanding  as  possi- 
ble, have  been  far  more  willing  to  give  land  or  sub- 
scribe money  for  a  college,  or  a  university,  than  for 
an  academy. 

The  real  importance  and  value  of  the  academy 
has  thus  been  much  undervalued  by  not  a  few  of 
those  interested  in  educational  plans,  and  even 
where  a  more  intelligent  view  of  the  subject  ob- 
tained, it  may  often  have  seemed  a  necessity  in  the 
interest  of  some  special  end  in  this  regard  to  con- 
cede the  point  where  to  contest  might  defeat  the 
whole  undertaking.  Besides  all  this,  as  the  general 
system  of  public  schools  has  become  more  complete, 
especially  as  the  high  school  curriculum  has  been  en- 


EDUCATION  357 

larged  and  the  methods  of  teaching  improved,  the 
need  of  the  academy  has  been  less  felt;  in  some 
instances,  and  of  one  snch  we  shall  have  occasion 
for  special  mention  in  the  course  of  this  chapter,  the 
high  school  has  made  the  academy  a  practical  im- 
possibility. 

In  what  we  have  here  to  record,  we  concern  our- 
selves less  with  preparatory  schools  connected  with 
colleges,  than  with  institutions  established  distinc- 
tively as  academies.  Nor  need  we  delay  long  over 
institutions  already  mentioned  which  so  soon  became 
colleges  and  universities,  such  as  the  Granville  Lit- 
erary and  Theological  Institute,  in  Ohio,  the  Frank- 
lin Baptist  Manual  Labor  Institute,  in  Indiana,  or 
the  Kalamazoo  Literary  Institute,  in  Michigan. 
Academies,  or  secondary  schools,  distinctively  as 
such,  are  our  present  subject. 

Indiana  has  had  a  peculiar  experience  in  this  re- 
gard. President  Stott  has  stated  the  matter  so  hap- 
pily that  we  copy  here  what  he  sends  us.  Speaking 
of  the  time  when  the  college  at  Franklin  was  in  the 
stress  of  its  severest  ordeal,  he  says : 

Franklin  College,  however,  did  not  compass  the  whole 
effort  of  Indiana  Baptists.  Schools  of  the  rank  of  acad- 
emies weix3  planted  in  several  places.  One  at  Ladoga,  had 
a  season  of  prosperity.  The  founders  and  supporters 
were  such  brethren  as  A.  D.  Billingsley,  J.  W.  Hanna, 
and  Rev.  R.  Davis.  Rev.  Gibbon  Williams  was  principal 
for  several  years.     He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  William 


358    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Hill  and  afterward  by  Rev.  A.  J.  Vawtcr.  A  good  loca- 
tion was  secured  and  a  good  building  put  up.  But  there 
was  no  endoivment,  and  at  length  it  died.  A  somewhat 
similar  effort  was  made  at  Crown  Point,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Rev.  T.  H.  Ball.  It  had  a  temporary  success. 
But  it  had  no  endowment,  and  it  died.  Another  was 
started  at  College  Hill,  in  Jefferson  County.  It  was  in- 
tended especially  for  colored  youth,  and  was  called  Eleu- 
therian  College.  It  was  founded  and  fostered  by  the 
Thompsons  and  the  Cravens  who  had  come  from  Ohio. 
Several  changes  were  made  in  the  details  of  the  institu- 
tion, but  at  last,  as  it  had  no  endowment,  it  died.  An- 
other effort  was  made  at  Mitchell,  with  Rev.  S.  Burton 
and  J.  Howard  as  ijrincipals,  but  at  last,  as  //  had  no  en- 
dowment, it  died.  Still  another  v/as  made  at  Huntington, 
with  Deacon  J.  Kenower  as  principal  patron  ;  but  the 
public  high  schools  came,  and  as  it  had  no  endowment,  it 
died.  Much  preliminary  work  was  also  done  to  estab- 
lish the  Western  Female  Seminary  at  Lafayette,  but  no 
instruction  was  ever  begun.  The  most  significant  effort 
was  made  at  Indianapolis,  in  the  establishment  of  the 
Indianapolis  Female  Institute.  It  was  begun  in  1859  or 
1860.  It  had  such  able  and  wise  men  in  its  management 
as  Rev.  Henry  Day,  d.  d.,  E.  C.  Atkins,  M.  G.  Clarke, 
D.  D.,  Rev.  E.  W.  Clark,  and  Deacon  J.  R.  Osgood. 
Rev.  C.  W.  Hewes  was  principal  several  years,  and  was 
succeeded  by  one  of  the  best  men  in  the  country.  Rev. 
Lucius  Hayden,  assisted  by  his  wife.  Among  the  teachers 
whose  names  come  to  mind  were  Miss  Esther  Boise, 
daughter  of  Dr.  J.  R.  Boise,  Miss  Rosa  Adams,  after- 
ward a  missionary  to  Burma,  and  Miss  R.  J.  Thompson, 
now  professor  of  mathematics  at  Franklin  College.  Sev- 
eral hundred  young  women  were  in  the  seminary  from 
first  to  last.     But  the  endoivment  was  meagre — and  it  died. 


EDUCATION  359 

It  is  said  that  Mr.  Atkins  was  able  to  save  something 
from  the  wreck,  and  that  whatever  was  saved  went  to 
the  seminary  at  Morgan  Park. 

In  Illinois  the  work  distinctively  academic,  apart 
from  that  which  was  undertaken  in  connection  with 
the  founding  of  the  new  University  of  Chicago,  has 
been  in  the  direction  of  provision  for  the  education 
of  young  women.  Almira  College,  at  Greenville,  in 
Bond  County,  quite  far  south  in  the  State,  was  for 
many  years,  from  1857  onward,  a  prosperous  school 
under  the  prineipalship  of  Prof.  J.  B.  White.  Ef- 
forts were  made  to  secure  its  adoption  by  the  Baptist 
denomination  in  the  State ;  but  these  failing,  it  re- 
mained a  private  enterprise,  passing  ultimately  into 
the  hands  of  James  P.  Slade,  A.  M.,  for  several  years 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  the  State  of 
Illinois.  Its  service  as  a  means  of  good  culture  in 
Southern  Illinois  was  from  the  first,  of  great  value. 

The  Mount  Carroll  Seminary,  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  State,  was  founded  in  1852  by  two 
ladies,  graduates  of  the  Albany,  N.  Y.,  Normal 
School,  Miss  F.  A.  Wood  and  Miss  C.  M.  Gregory. 
They  had  come  into  the  West  tliat  they  might  con- 
secrate their  lives  to  work  in  education  where  it  was 
most  needed,  and  chose  for  their  location  a  spot  cen- 
tral to  a  district  agriculturally  rich,  with  growing 
towns  in  the  vicinity.  The  location  was  excellent, 
and  under  their  admirable  management,  entirely  as 
a  private  enterprise,  the  school  rose  to  a  front  rank 


360    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

among  Western  seminaries.  After  some  years  Miss 
Wood,  having  become  the  wife  of  Dr.  Henry 
Shinier,  purchased  the  interest  of  her  associate,  Miss 
Gregory,  or  Mrs.  Lansing,  as  the  wife  of  Rev.  L. 
L.  Lansing,  and  with  INIiss  A.  C.  Joy  as  assistant 
principal,  still  carried  on  the  school  during  many 
prosperous  years.  Ample  buildings  were  erected, 
and  the  departments  of  a  complete  course  of  instruc- 
tion for  young  women  organized  and  carried  on. 
In  the  year  1892  we  find  the  value  of  the  property, 
with  all  incumbrances  deducted,  placed  at  ninety- 
five  thousand  dollars. 

In  Ohio  we  find  the  academic  work  in  close  con- 
nection with  that  of  the  university.  In  1832-33 
Charles  Sawyer,  one  of  the  members  of  the  Baptist 
church  in  Granville,  Ohio,  where  the  Granville 
Theological  and  Literary  Institute  had  just  been 
established,  erected  two  frame  buildings,  one  for  a 
schoolroom,  the  other  for  a  boarding  house,  to  be 
used  for  a  school  for  girls.  The  wife  of  Rev.  H. 
Gear,  a  home  missionary  agent,  living  in  the  village, 
was  induced  to  take  charge  of  the  work  of  instruc- 
tion, and  the  first  year  there  were  twenty-five  young 
women  in  attendance.  She  was  succeeded  by  a  Mr. 
Poland  and  wife,  of  Massachusetts,  who  conducted 
the  school  for  a  short  time,  until  Mrs.  Poland's 
death.  Various  persons  were  engaged  as  teachers 
until  1839,  Rev.  Samuel  Budd  Swain  being  the  last 
one.     Then  the  buildings  and  grounds  passed  into 


EDUCATION  361 

the  hands  of  the  Episcopaliaus,  who  had  control  of 
them  until  1861. 

In  1859,  however,  Rev.  N.  S.  Burton,  father  of 
Prof.  E.  D.  Burton  of  the  University  of  Chicago, 
with  his  wife  had  started  a  Baptist  school  for  girls, 
hearing  the  classes  in  the  basement  of  the  Baptist 
church.  They  were  assisted  in  teaching  by  some  of 
the  professors  in  Denison  University,  and  they  grad- 
uated two  classes.  In  1861  Rev.  Marsena  Stone 
came  to  Granville,  raised  one  thousand  dollars  in  the 
church,  and  bought  the  buildings  from  the  Episco- 
palians, and  after  improving  them  to  a  considerable 
extent,  carried  on  the  Young  Ladies'  Institute,  which 
Mr.  Burton  then  gave  up.  In  1868  Dr.  Stone  sold 
the  property  to  Rev.  Daniel  Shepardson,  who  con- 
tinued in  charge  of  it  until  1887,  a  period  of  nine- 
teen years,  when  by  his  gift  it  was  turned  over  to  a 
Board  of  Trustees,  representing  the  Baptists  of  Ohio, 
who  accepted  the  grounds  and  buildings,  raised  an 
endowment  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and 
have  since  carried  it  on  under  the  same  general  plan 
as  that  which  governs  Denison  University,  giving  it 
the  name  of  Shepardson  College. 

Granville  Academy,  in  Granville,  Ohio,  was  set 
apart  as  a  separate  school  in  1887,  since  which  time 
it  has  been  under  the  charge  of  Prof.  J.  D.  S. 
Riggs,  its  management  being  the  Board  of  trustees 
of  Denison  University.  From  the  first  days  of  the 
college  proper,  there  had  been  a  preparatory  school 


362    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

attached,  and  this  formed  the  basis  of  what  is  now 
the  academy,  the  new  arrangement  having  been  made 
in  order  to  magnify  the  college  proper,  and  especially 
to  allow  separate  discipline  of  the  younger  students. 
A  building  was  erected  especially  for  the  academy 
by  Mr.  AV.  H.  Doane,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Prof. 
Riggs  had  been  connected  with  the  old  University 
of  Chicago,  and  being  in  every  way  well  fitted  for 
his  present  position,  the  school  has  prospered  under 
his  care. 

We  have  previously  noted  that  Wisconsin  Baptists 
were  early  awake  to  the  need  of  an  educational  in- 
stitution in  their  State,  a  convention  being  held  in 
1851,  the  result  of  which  was  the  organization  of 
a  Northwestern  Education  Society.  No  definite 
action  seems  to  have  been  taken  by  this  society,  yet 
it  undoubtedly  led  to  the  movement  in  1854  by  the 
Board  of  the  State  Convention  in  organizing  a  Wis- 
consin Education  Society  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing an  institution  of  learning  in  the  State.  It 
was  decided  to  offer  the  institution  to  the  place  bid- 
ding most  liberally  for  it,  and  this  resulted  in  its  lo- 
cation at  Beaver  Dam,  Wisconsin.  Fox  Lake  also 
made  a  very  generous  offer,  and  as  co-education  was 
strenuously  opposed  by  some,  the  Baptist  Female 
College  was  founded  in  Fox  Lake  at  about  the  same 
time  with  Wayland  University  in  Beaver  Dam. 
The  resources  of  Baptists  in  the  State  at  that  day 
were  clearly  not  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of 


EDUCATION  363 

two  institutions,  and  the  Fox  Lake  school,  after 
some  years,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Congrega- 
tionalists.  In  the  winter  of  1854-55  Wayhmd 
University  was  duly  incorporated,  and  the  corner- 
stone of  the  first  building  was  lakl  July  4,  1855. 
The  school  opened  September  19,  1855,  with  Rev. 
Benjamin  Newall  as  president.  Wayland  Academy 
had,  at  the  request  of  its  trustees,  been  under  the 
care  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  but  it  now  be- 
came independent,  and  a  heroic,  though  unsuccessful 
attempt  was  made  to  raise  an  endowment  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  Its  affairs  were  brighten- 
ing, however,  for  on  September  29,  1881,  the  Hon. 
Charles  L.  Colby,  in  a  letter  to  Prof.  Jewett,  chair- 
man of  the  executive  committee,  "  proposed  to  give 
ten  thousand  dollars  toward  a  fund  of  twenty  thou- 
sand, to  be  called  the  '  Eli  H.  Salter  Fund,'  pro- 
vided that  within  the  next  twelve  months  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  additional  be  given  for  the  same  purpose 
by  the  friends  throughout  the  State."  This  amount 
was  raised  in  the  State  through  the  faithful  services 
of  Prof.  Jewett,  Dr.  A.  F.  Mason,  and  other  earnest 
workers.  The  folloAving  year  a  special  service  was 
held  in  connection  with  the  Convention  to  celebrate 
the  event,  which  Mr.  Colby  himself  attended,  deliv- 
ering a  most  impressive  address  on  Christian  Educa- 
tion. In  1890  an  effort  was  made  to  raise  thirty- 
two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  for  endowment, 
the  National  Baptist  Education  Society  offering  to 


364    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

give  seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  provided 
the  sum  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  was  raised 
in  the  State.  This  endowment  was  completed  Janu- 
ary 1,  1892,  largely  through  the  effective  labor  of 
the  financial  secretary,  Rev.  L.  G.  Catchpole  and 
those  associated  with  him. 

Since  that  time  the  progress  of  Way  land  has  been 
steady  and  progressive.  Prof.  Burchard  is  leading 
the  institution  to  broader  and  higher  achievements. 
The  institution  still  maintains  its  high  repute  of 
complete  and  thorough  scholarship.  It  has  been 
brought  into  affiliation  with  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago, thus  enlarging  the  scope  of  its  operations  and 
privileges,  while  it  still  maintains  its  devotional 
spirit  and  its  deep  religious  character,  making  it 
what  its  friends  have  always  desired  it  to  be,  a 
center  of  Christian  education. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

JOURNALISM 

IF  one  were  to  judge  by  what  is  expected  of  reli- 
gious journals  in  later  times,  it  might  be  to  him 
matter  for  much  surprise  that  in  the  earlier  liistory 
of  these  States  enterprises  of  that  nature  should  have 
been  deemed  in  any  way  practicable,  or  that  when 
undertaken  they  should  have  held  on  their  way  so 
Ions:.  When  Prof.  John  Stevens,  of  whom  we  have 
often  had  occasion  to  speak  in  previous  pages,  and 
who  previous  to  his  removal  to  the  West  had  been 
at  the  head  of  an  academy  in  Reading,  Mass.,  began 
at  Cincinnati  the  publication,  in  1831,  of  the  paper 
founded  by  him  nnder  the  name  of  the  "Baptist 
Weekly  Journal  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  there 
were,  we  are  told,  in  the  whole  of  Ohio,  only  about 
ten  thousand  Baptists,  "  and  a  large  portion  of  them 
were  opposed  to  Sunday-schools,  to  missions,  and  to 
an  educated  ministry."  Those  holding  such  views 
were  little  likely  to  lend  their  aid  in  support  of  an 
enterprise  in  the  hands  of  one  known  to  be  an  en- 
thusiastic advocate  of  them  all.  But  there  had  been 
like  undertakings  antedating  even  this.  We  find 
mention  made  in  the  Minutes  of  the  State  Conven- 

365 


366    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

tion  for  1828  and  1829,  of  the  "Western  Eeliglous 
Magazine,"  conducted  by  Rev.  Geo.  C.  Sedgwick ; 
and  again,  on  the  abandonment  of  that  enterprise  for 
want  of  support,  of  a  monthly  entitled  the  "  Western 
Miscellany,"  by  the  same  editor,  published,  as  the 
former  had  been,  at  Zanesville. 

The  enterprise  headed  by  Mr.  Stevens  was  evi- 
dently under  the  auspices  of  the  State  Convention. 
At  the  meeting  held  in  May,  1831,  we  find  that  the 
following  action  was  taken  :  "  Inasmuch  as  we  ex- 
pect a  weekly  paper  under  the  patronage  of  the  Con- 
vention, to  be  circulated  in  July,  therefore.  Re- 
solved, That  we  request  the  Board  to  instruct  each 
missionary  to  obtain  subscribers  for  said  paper,  and 
that  we  request  our  denomination  to  patronize  it,  and 
the  Minutes  of  this  session  to  be  published  in  it,  as 
well  as  in  the  '  Miscellany.' '' 

The  first  number  of  the  paper,  being  that  of 
which  Prof.  Stevens  was  the  editor,  bore  date  July 
22,  1831.  In  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention  at 
its  session  in  May,  1832,  we  find  a  more  extended 
entry,  as  follows,  in  a  report  of  the  committee  on 
publication  : 

We  learn  from  the  publishing  committee  that  the  ex- 
penses of  the  "Journal"  are  as  follows:  The  expenses 
of  paper  and  the  doing  of  the  work  of  one  year,  $1,976  ; 
to  which  add  the  editor's  compensation  and  postage, 
office  rent,  agents,  and  other  incidental  expenses,  and 
the  whole  will  amount  to  not  less  than  $3,000.     The 


JOURNALISM  367 

present  number  of  subscribers  reckoned  good  is  700. 
The  average  number  of  subscribers  for  the  first  year  is 
550,  and  the  amount  to  be  received  from  them,  $1, 100. 
Before  commencing  the  publication  about  $1,100  was 
secured  by  a  subscription  by  the  publishing  committee 
and  others  to  meet  the  expenses,  and  the  publishing 
committee  became  responsible  for  the  deficiency,  which 
is  from  $800  to  $1,000.  The  expense  of  publishing  the 
paper  besides  the  income  from  subscribers  has  been 
nearly  $2,000,  a  burden  insupportable  to  be  borne  by 
those  who  first  came  forward  to  assume  the  responsi- 
bility. 

It  Is  therefore  urged  that  special  exertions  be 
made  in  behalf  of  "  an  object  most  highly  deserving 
of  the  sacrifices  which  it  is  estimated  will  be  re- 
quired." It  is  recommended  that  the  publishing 
committee  allow  the  acting  Board  of  the  Convention 
twenty-five  cents  for  each  paying  subscriber  by  them 
obtained ;  also  that  an  effort  be  made  "  to  raise  one 
thousand  dollars  in  shares  of  ten  dollars  each,  to  be 
paid  the  whole  or  in  part  as  shall  be  necessary,  and 
to  be  paid  in  quarterly  installments  to  the  publish- 
ing committee." 

These  Minutes  of  proceedings  are  of  real  historical 
interest,  as  showing  the  estimate  placed  by  those 
then  in  the  lead  of  Western  Baptist  affairs  upon 
stated  means  of  communication  amonc;  the  churches, 
and  of  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  common  work  and  its 
necessities ;  also,  how  strong  the  purpose  was  to 
make  provision  in  this  behalf  in  spite  of  fewness  of 


368    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

members  and  limited  means.  The  paper  as  thus 
established  under  the  editorship  of  Mr.  Stevens, 
with  Noble  S.  Johnson  as  publisher,  during  the  seven 
years  of  its  continuance,  was  all  which  had  been 
hoped  of  it  in  the  particulars  named.  We  find  the 
paper  described  as  "  a  folio,"  twenty  by  thirteen 
inches  to  the  page,  and  the  subscription  price  two 
dollars  in  advance,  or  three  dollars  at  the  end  of  the 
year.  It  had  in  three  years  a  subscription  list  of 
one  thousand  three  hundred. 

Soon  after  this  beginning  had  been  made,  a  paper 
called  "  The  Cross  "  began  publication  at  Frankfort, 
Ky.,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  was  combined 
with  the  "  Journal,"  the  name  becoming  "  The  Cross 
and  Baptist  Journal  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  the 
popular  name  being  "  The  Cross  and  Journal,"  by 
which  name  it  was  known  for  a  decade  or  more.  It 
was  hoped  that  the  united  paper  would  meet  the 
wants  of  the  Baptists  of  the  great  States  bordering 
on  the  Ohio,  and  that  by  their  support  it  would  be- 
come self-supporting  and  eifective.  At  that  time 
the  Baptists  of  Ohio  numbered,  according  to  the 
most  careful  census  possible,  about  nine  thousand 
eight  hundred  ;  those  in  Kentucky  were  more  nu- 
merous, and  those  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  perhaps 
somewhat  less  so.  In  a  short  time,  however,  another 
paper  was  started  in  Kentucky,  and  the  support  of 
that  State  was  gradually  withdrawn  from  the  "  Cross 
and  Journal."     About  the  same  time  the  lines  began 


JOURNALISM  369 

to  be  drawn  between  the  "missionary"  and  the 
"  anti-missionary  "  Baptists,  the  latter  being  in  some 
sections  the  majority  and  expelling  the  "  missionary  " 
churches  from  their  Associations.  "  The  Cross  and 
Journal "  was  true  to  the  missionary  idea,  and 
strongly  supported  the  Baptist  Triennial  Convention 
in  its  foreign  mission  work,  and  the  American  Bap- 
tist Home  Mission  Society  in  its  home  mission  work, 
whether  in  Ohio  or  farther  West. 

After  a  service  of  seven  years,  during  which  time 
the  paper  continued  to  be  published  in  Cincinnati, 
Mr.  Stevens  resigned  the  editorial  management  and 
accepted  the  chair  of  intellectual  and  moral  philoso- 
phy in  Granville  College,  and  the  paper  was  trans- 
ferred to  Rev.  George  Cole,  who  soon  after  removed 
it  to  Columbus,  the  capital  of  the  State.  At  that 
time  there  seemed  to  be  a  disposition  to  draw  a  line, 
corresponding  with  what  was  known  as  the  "Na- 
tional Road,"  between  the  northern  and  southern 
sections  of  the  State,  and  it  was  thought  that  if  pub- 
lished at  Columbus  it  could  more  fully  command 
the  confidence  and  the  support  of  both  sections. 
This  proved  to  be  true,  and  the  building  of  railroads 
and  other  things  tended  to  unify  interests  and  to 
bring  the  denomination  into  more  thorough  sympa- 
thy. Soon  after  the  removal  to  Columbus,  Mr. 
Cole,  the  proprietor  and  publisher,  associated  with 
himself  as  editor.  Rev.  -David  A.  Randall,  and  this 
arrangement  continued  till  April   16,   1847,  when 


370    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Mr.  Cole  transferred  his  interest  to  Mr.  Randall  and 
Mr.  J.  L.  Bachelder,  who  became  joint  proprietors 
and  editors,  and  changed  the  name  to  "  The  AVestern 
Christian  Journal,"  the  first  issue  under  the  new 
title  bearing  the  date  above  given.  December  21, 
1849,  Mr.  Randall  retired  and  Mr.  Bachelder  be- 
came sole  editor  and  proprietor. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  there  was  abroad  a 
conviction  that  too  many  papers  were  seeking  the 
patronage  of  the  denomination,  and  that  the  "  Chris- 
tian Messenger,"  which  had  been  for  six  years  pub- 
lished at  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  ought  to  be  united  with 
the  "  Western  Christian."  A  conference  was  held 
of  persons  not  directly  interested  in  either  paper, 
one  of  them  being  the  founder  of  the  "  Messenger," 
and  it  was  agreed  that  the  union  should  be  eflPected, 
if  possible.  Both  papers  were  dragging  out  a  pre- 
carious existence,  and  it  was  hoped  that  by  the 
union  of  the  two  and  their  removal  to  Cincinnati, 
both  States  could  be  served  and  great  gain  secured. 
The  union  was  soon  after  eflFectcd,  and  the  first  issue 
of  "  The  Journal  and  Messenger  "  was  dated  Decem- 
ber 21,  1849.  Immediately  after  the  office  of  pub- 
lication was  removed  to  Cincinnati,  where  it  has 
ever  since  remained.  Mr.  Bachelder  continued  to 
be  the  editor  and  proprietor  until  1856,  when  some 
of  the  more  prominent  Baptists  of  the  State  began 
to  feel  that  something  ought  to  be  done  to  make  it 
more  efficient  and  increase  its  circulation.     It  was 


JOURNALISM  371 

found  that  Mr.  Bachelder  was  willing  to  sell,  and  a 
stock  company  was  formed  and  incorporated  (the 
capital  stock  being  placed  at  ten  thousand  dollars) 
for  the  purpose  of  buying  the  paper  and  putting  it 
under  other  management.  The  articles  of  incor- 
poration bear  date  May  9,  1856.  The  name  of  the 
company  was  "  The  Central  Baptist  Press  Company." 
Mr.  Cole  was  recalled  to  the  editorship  and  man- 
agement, and  for  twenty  years  the  paper  was  pub- 
lished under  the  auspices  and  ownership  of  the  same 
company.  Mr.  Cole  continued  to  be  the  editor  and 
manager  until  1864,  when  Rev.  T.  J.  Melish  was 
elected  to  succeed  him.  Soon  after  Rev.  J.  R.  Stone, 
of  Fort  AYayne,  Ind.,  became  "  corresponding  editor 
for  Indiana,"  a  position  which  he  continued  to  hold 
until  1874. 

During  all  these  years  the  growth  had  been  slow. 
Hardly  would  the  paper  get  on  "  a  paying  basis " 
when  some  adverse  influence  would  set  in,  either  a 
want  of  sympathy  wdth  the  management,  or  the 
starting  of  another  paper,  and  there  would  be  a  posi- 
tive and  imperiling  loss.  In  January,  1872,  Rev. 
John  R.  Baumes,  then  a  pastor  in  Springfield,  O., 
succeeded  to  the  editorship  and  management.  After 
a  few  weeks  he  called  to  his  assistance  Rev.  W.  N. 
\Yyeth,  then  a  pastor  in  Ohio,  and  in  August  of  the 
next  year,  a  small  paper,  called  "  The  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary," published  at  Evansville,  Ind.,  was  merged 
into  the  "  Journal  and  Messenger "  ;    Mr.   Wyeth 


372    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

went  to  Indianapolis  and  opened  an  office,  and  from 
that  time  the  paper  was  published  simultaneously  at 
Cincinnati  and  Indianapolis.  In  1874  Dr.  Stone's 
name  as  "  corresponding  editor  for  Indiana "  was 
dropped,  and  that  of  Mr.  Wycth  was  inserted  as 
editor,  conjointly  with  that  of  Mr.  Baumes. 

In  July,  1876,  Rev.  George  William  Lasher, 
D.  D.,  purchased  all  the  stock  of  the  Central  Baptist 
Press  Company  and  became  sole  proprietor,  while 
Dr.  Wyeth  continued  to  serve  as  editor,  with  his 
office  at  Indianapolis.  In  1883  Dr.  Wyeth  was  re- 
moved from  Indianapolis  to  Cincinnati,  though  a 
publication  office  was  still  retained  in  the  former 
city.  In  1887  Rev.  Grover  Pease  Osborne  pur- 
chased a  half  interest  in  the  paper,  and,  removing 
from  Toledo,  Ohio,  where  he  was  then  pastor,  be- 
came associated  in  the  editorial  and  business  man- 
agement. In  1888  Dr.  AVyeth  closed  his  connec- 
tion with  the  paper  and  removed  to  Philadelphia. 
Messrs.  Lasher  and  Osborne  applied  themselves 
vigorously  to  the  improvement  of  the  paper  in  every 
department  and  with  flattering  assurances  of  suc- 
cess from  its  friends. 

Previous  to  entrance  upon  this  new  form  of  service. 
Dr.  Lasher  had  filled  important  positions  in  other 
spheres.  His  first  pastorate,  after  graduation  from 
college  and  seminary,  was  with  the  Baptist  church 
in  Norwalk,  Conn.  After  service  for  six  months  as 
chaplain  of  a  Connecticut  regiment,  in  1861,  resign- 


JOURNALISM  373 

ing  this  position  he  reentered  the  pastorate,  serving 
in  Haverhill,  Mass.,  and  Trenton,  N.  J.,  and  from 
1872  to  1875  as  corresponding  secretary  of  the  New 
York  Baptist  Education  Society.  Rev.  Grover 
Pease  Osborne,  his  associate  from  the  year  1887  on- 
ward, son  of  Rev.  David  Osborne,  was  born  in 
Trumansburg,  N.  Y.,  in  1847.  The  father,  at  the 
date  of  our  present  writing,  is  still  living  at  Grand 
Rapids,  JNIich.  The  son  was  educated  at  Kalama- 
zoo College  and  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Chi- 
cago, and  for  several  years  Avas  in  the  pastorate. 
The  "  Journal  and  Messenger  "  in  the  hands  of  these 
gentlemen  has  taken  and  held  a  high  position  in 
American  religious  journalism;  pronounced  and  pos- 
itive in  tone  upon  all  great  questions,  and  with  a 
literary  character  commending  it  warmly  to  the  favor 
of  cultivated  people. 

The  history  of  Baptist  journalism  in  Indiana  is 
to  a  considerable  extent  connected  with  that  in  other 
States.  Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the 
"  Messenger,"  which  ultimately  became  united  with 
the  paper  in  Ohio.  It  was  begun  in  Madison,  Ind., 
by  Rev.  E.  D.  Owen,  in  1843,  and  in  1846  was  re- 
moved to  Indianapolis,  from  there  passing  to  Cin- 
cinnati for  its  new  career  under  other  auspices.  For 
some  years  Rev.  A.  R.  Hinckley,  pastor  at  Frank- 
lin, served  as  associate  editor  of  the  "  Baptist  Banner 
and  Pioneer,"  published  at  Louisville,  Ky.  We  are 
informed  also  that  Hon.  Jesse  L.  Holman  for  several 


374    HISTOEY  OF  BArTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

years  held  a  like  relation  with  the  "  Baptist  Advo- 
cate "  at  Cincinnati.  In  what  ways  the  State  inter- 
ests were  represented  by  associate  editors  of  the  Ohio 
paper,  located  at  Indianapolis,  has  already  been  men- 
tioned. 

At  the  commencement  of  Franklin  College,  in 
June,  1856,  it  was  resolved  by  the  brethren  who  met 
there,  to  make  an  effort  to  establish  a  paper  at  In- 
dianapolis. The  name  chosen  at  the  time  was  the 
"  Indiana  Recorder,"  but  the  name  was  almost  im- 
mediately changed  to  the  "  Witness."  Rev.  M.  G. 
Clarke,  for  many  years  prominent  in  the  Baptist 
ministry  of  the  East,  came  to  Indianapolis  especially 
with  a  purpose  to  conduct  the  paper  so  founded. 
Calling  soon  to  his  aid  Rev.  E.  W.  Clarke,  now  a 
missionary  in  Assam,  jointly  with  him  Mr.  Clarke 
continued  the  publication  until  1867,  when  the 
"  Witness "  was  merged  in  the  paper  at  Chicago, 
then  called  the  "Christian  Times,"  Rev.  M.  G. 
Clarke  himself  accepting  the  position  of  financial 
secretary  of  the  university  there. 

The  effort  to  sustain  a  paper  specially  for  Indiana 
was  not  renewed  until  the  year  1881.  In  that  year 
Rev.  G.  H.  Elgin,  pastor  of  the  North  Baptist 
Church,  Indianapolis,  calling  to  his  aid  Mr.  U.  H. 
Chaille,  began  the  publication  of  the  "  Indiana  Bap- 
tist." During  nine  years,  from  1881  to  1890,  Mr. 
Elgin  and  Mr.  Chaille  conducted  the  paper — a 
handsome  sheet,  compact  in  matter,  edited  with  ex- 


JOURNALISM  375 

cellent  skill  and  in  an  admirable  spirit.  The  death 
of  Mr.  Elgin  in  1890,  -while  a  loss  keenly  felt  in 
many  ways,  was  especially  so  in  this  journalistic  en- 
terprise which,  owing  to  the  severe  labor  and  many 
sacrifices  made  imperative,  with  other  service  neces- 
sarily added,  had  greatly  overtaxed  his  strength. 
Soon  after  his  death  a  joint-stock  company  was 
formed,  and  with  Mr.  Chaille  as  business  manager 
and  Rev.  D.  R.  McGregor  as  editor,  the  paper  was 
continued,  with  its  high  character  for  journalistic  ex- 
cellence fully  maintained  and  with  highly  valued 
service  to  the  denomination  in  the  State. 

The  Baptists  of  Michigan,  like  those  in  other 
States,  were  early  in  the  field  of  religious  journal- 
ism. At  the  first  anniversary  of  the  State  Conven- 
tion, held  in  1837,  we  find  the  following  resolution 
adopted  :  "  That  the  Board  of  this  Convention  take 
into  consideration  the  expediency  of  publishing  a 
semi-weekly  or  monthly  paper  under  the  patronage 
of  this  Convention,  and  publish  such  paper  when  in 
their  judgment  it  is  called  for  and  can  be  sustained." 
Some  correspondence  was  had  with  conductors  of 
the  "Baptist  Register,"  published  in  Utica,  N.  Y., 
under  a  proposition  from  them  to  supply  the  State 
with  the  needed  organ,  with  a  percentage  of  sub- 
scriptions in  the  State  to  be  given  to  the  Board  of 
the  Convention  for  its  missionary  work.  Pending 
action  upon  this  proposition,  and  through  other 
causes  of  delay,  action  in  the  matter  was  in  a  state 


376    HISTOEY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

of  suspension  until  the  anniversary  of  the  Conven- 
tion held  at  Edwardsburg  in  1841,  when  it  was  de- 
cided to  enter  immediately  upon  steps  preparatory 
to  the  desired  publication,  Rev.  A.  Ten  Brook,  and 
Messrs.  R.  C.  Smith  and  S.  M.  Kendrick  being  ap- 
pointed as  a  publishing  committee.  It  was  directed 
that  the  name  of  the  paper  be  "  The  Michigan 
Christian  Herald,"  and  the  place  of  publication, 
Detroit.  In  July  of  the  following  year  the  first 
number  appeared,  with  Rev.  A.  Ten  Brook  as 
editor,  and  the  gentlemen  associated  with  him  under 
appointment  by  the  Convention  as  publishing  com- 
mittee. It  was  an  eight-page  paper  of  three  col- 
umns, nine  and  one-half  inches  long,  to  the  page. 
The  next  issue  was  in  March  following,  and  every 
month  thereafter  during  the  year,  except  that  two 
numbers  were  published  in  November,  making 
twelve  numbers  for  the  year.  We  are  told  that  the 
three  editorials  in  the  first  number  were  upon  the 
following  subjects  :  "  The  State  of  Morals  and  Reli- 
gion in  Detroit,"  "  Prophecy,"  and  the  "  Study  of 
the  Scriptures."  There  was  also  a  sermon  upon 
"  The  Design  of  the  Lord's  Supper."  ^ 

It  is  evident  that  the  denomination  in  Michigan 
entered  with  much  heartiness  into  the  support  of  the 
enterprise.     In  July,   1843,  Mr.  R.  C,  Smith,  for 

^  For  much  of  our  material  upon  Baptist  journalism  in  Michi- 
gan, we  are  indebted  to  a  paper  upon  that  subject  read  by  Rev. 
J.  S.  Boyden  at  the  Michigan  Serai-Centennial  in  1886. 


JOUENALISM  377 

the  publishing  committee,  reports  a  subscription 
list  of  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-three, 
and  when  the  Convention  met  in  the  autumn  of  that 
year  this  number  had  increased  to  one  thousand  five 
hundred  and  twenty-four.  In  the  year  named  the 
total  membership  in  the  State  was  seven  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty-six,  so  that  the  constituency 
of  the  paper  stood  at  very  nearly  one-fourth  of  the 
entire  membership  of  the  churches. 

Mr.  Ten  Brook  being  at  the  time  pastor  of  the 
church  in  Detroit,  continued  as  editor  during  three 
years,  Rev.  Miles  Sandford  being  associate  editor. 
Upon  the  removal  of  Mr.  Ten  Brook  to  Ann  Ar- 
bor, as  professor  in  the  State  University  there,  Mr. 
Sanford  remained  in  sole  editorial  charge.  With 
the  first  number  for  1845,  the  paper  appeared  as  a 
weekly,  Mr.  R.  C.  Smith  continuing  his  active  ser- 
vice in  promoting  the  circulation.  In  the  second 
number  of  the  year  it  printed  a  list  of  eighty-nine 
agents  for  the  paper — a  fact  which,  while  it  proves 
the  interest  felt  in  promoting  its  circulation,  accounts 
also  for  its  success  in  that  regard.  The  receipts,  in- 
deed, exceeded  the  cost  of  publication,  so  that  al- 
though the  paper  had  been  enlarged,  and  its  expense 
increased,  it  yielded  to  the  Convention  in  1<S45  a  net 
surplus  of  three  hundred  and  seventy-three  dollars. 
In  1846  Rev.  James  Inglis,  pastor  of  the  church  in 
Detroit,  became  the  editor,  the  circulation  having 
increased   to   two   thousand    three    hundred.     The 


378    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

paper  was  then  sold  by  the  Convention  to  Mr.  O.  S. 
Galley,  of  Detroit,  who  had  up  to  this  time  been  its 
printer.  Mr.  Gulley,  upon  becoming  proprietor,  en- 
gaging "  to  pay  into  the  treasury  of  the  Convention 
a  percentage  on  all  subscriptions  above  a  fixed  num- 
ber, and  to  enlarge  the  paper  when  it  should  have 
three  thousand  subscribers." 

An  important  era  in  Michigan  Baptist  journalism 
was  reached  in  the  year  1848,  when  Rev.  Marvin 
Allen  became  proprietor  of  the  paper,  and  Rev. 
G.  W.  Harris  its  editor.  Mr.  Allen,  born  at  Fabius, 
N.  Y.,  in  1800,  had  studied  at  Hamilton  and  had 
served  some  years  as  pastor  in  his  native  State, 
when  in  1837  he  came  to  Michigan  as  pastor  at 
Adrian,  being  in  1844  called  to  a  like  service  at 
Ann  Arbor.  His  health  failing  he  was  compelled 
to  leave  the  pastorate,  and  entered  the  service  of 
the  State  Convention  as  its  general  agent.  In  the 
year  named,  1848,  he  became  proprietor  and  pub- 
lisher of  the  Baptist  paper  at  Detroit,  so  continuing 
until  his  death  in  1861.  His  name  is  held  in  grati- 
tude and  high  honor  in  Michigan  Baptist  history. 
Rev.  G.  W.  Harris  was  also  a  native  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  born  at  Nassau,  Livingston  County,  in 
1813.  He  took  his  collegiate  and  theological  course 
at  Hamilton,  graduating  finally  in  1842,  and  being 
ordained  at  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  in  1843.  The  year 
following  he  removed  to  Michigan,  becoming  pastor 
at  Jackson  in  that  State.     Accepting  the  editorship 


JOURNALISM  379 

of  the  paper  at  Detroit  in  1848,  he  continued  in 
that  service  fifteen  years,  until  1863,  resigning  it  in 
that  year  and  from  that  time  forward  having  his 
home  in  Battle  Creek. 

The  "  Michigan  Christian  Herald  "  as  conducted 
by  these  two  able  men  and  earnest  Christians,  held 
a  high  place  in  the  Baptist  journalism  of  the  coun- 
try. Its  circulation,  although  never  very  large,  still 
reached  to  a  considerable  extent  to  other  States,  and 
was  valued  by  those  who  had  other  reasons  for  ap- 
preciating it  besides  its  excellent  service  as  the  Bap- 
tist organ  for  the  State.  Following  the  death  of  Mr. 
Allen  and  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Harris,  the  current 
of  prosperity  appears  to  have  materially  changed. 
The  paper  was  removed  to  Kalamazoo,  and  there  for 
a  while  was  published  by  Messrs.  Olney  and  Hunting- 
ton, Prof.  E.  Anderson  being  associated  in  the  edito- 
rial work.  In  1864  the  proprietors  became  Messrs. 
Olney  and  Curtiss,  Rev.  E.  Curtiss  taking  the  sole 
responsibility  of  the  publication,  "  not  from  choice, 
but  to  keep  faith  with  the  denomination."  Other 
changes  of  proprietorship  occurred  until  the  year 
1867,  when  Rev.  J.  A.  Clark  and  Mr.  J.  P.  Cad- 
man  being  in  charge,  arrangements  were  by  them 
made  with  the  proprietors  of  the  "  Christian  Times 
and  Witness,"  at  Chicago,  for  consolidation  with 
that  paper,  which  thereupon,  took  the  name  of  "  The' 
Standard." 

The  history   of  Baptist  journalism   in  Michigan 


380    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

from  that  date  to  the  present  is  thus  briefly  sum- 
marized by  Dr.  Haskell : 

Michigan  owes  much  to  Rev.  Luther  H.  Trowbridge, 
with  Mrs.  Trowbridge  as  an  equal  editor,  for  their  re-es- 
tabhshment  and  maintenance  of  the  ' '  Christian  Herald. ' ' 
When  it  was  suspended  as  a  State  publication,  Mr.  Trow- 
bridge had  left  his  successful  pastorate  at  Three  Rivers 
at  the  call  of  Kalamazoo  College  to  take  its  financial 
agency.  Feeling  the  need  of  an  organ  through  which 
to  speak  directly  to  the  churches,  he  published  for  a 
time  the  "Torchlight."  But  soon  the  calb  voiced  it- 
self to  him  and  wife  to  put  their  property  and  their  ser- 
vice upon  the  chances  of  reissuing  from  Detroit  the  full- 
sized  "Christian  Herald."  As  to  their  property  risk, 
their  friends  feared  for  them.  But  with  their  own  mu- 
tual hard  work  and  economical  living  in  the  office, 
they  carried  the  enterprise  safely  to  themselves  and  sat- 
isfactorily to  patrons,  until  favoring  providences  brought 
them  to  an  easier  independence. 

In  Illinois,  Baptist  journalism  has  been  from  the 
beginning  wholly  a  matter  of  private  enterprise ; 
in  decided  contrast  with  the  journalism  of  Ohio  and 
Michigan.  This  too  may  in  part  account  for  the 
considerable  amount  of  vicissitude,  notably  in  the 
history  during  some  eleven  years,  from  1842  to 
1853.  Other  causes  help  to  explain  the  fact  of  four 
undertakings  in  this  direction,  previous  to  that  in 
the  year  last  named,  which  has  been  continuous  dur- 
ing the  forty-two  years  till  the  date  of  our  present 
narrative. 


JOURNALISM  381 

Wc  might,  iudecd,  add  still  another  to  the  num- 
ber of  newspaper  enterprises  in  the  Baptist  interest 
begun  in  Illinois  and  afterward  abandoned.  In 
1828  Dr.  J.  M.  Peck,  who  had  been  for  a  time  asso- 
ciate editor,  representing  Illinois,  with  Dr.  John  L. 
Waller,  of  the  "  Banner  and  Pioneer,"  of  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  established  a  paper  of  his  own  at  Rock 
Spring,  naming  it  the  "  Western  Pioneer  and  Bap- 
tist." This,  however,  was  of  short  continuance,  and 
there  is  little  to  record  of  its  history. 

The  next  attempt  of  the  kind  was  made  at  Chi- 
cago, Rev.  C.  B.  Smith  commencing  there,  with 
the  first  number  dated  September  20,  1842,  a 
paper  named  "  The  Northwestern  Baptist."  It  was 
to  appear  "  once  in  two  weeks,"  the  subscription 
price  being  one  dollar  per  year.  Apart  from  the 
fact  that  at  so  early  a  date  a  field  sufficient  to  yield 
support  even  to  an  enterprise  inaugurated  upon  a 
plan  so  economical  could  scarcely  be  hoped  for,  the 
paper  at  Chicago  found  itself  at  the  outset  in  an 
atmosphere  of  controversy  likely  to  become  embar- 
rassing. The  anti-slavery  agitation  was  growing 
more  and  more  active  in  the  West  as  well  as  in  the 
East.  The  editor  found  it  difficult  to  meet  the  views  of 
both  radicals  and  conservatives  in  his  management  of 
the  paper.  Complaints  were  made,  especially  by  the 
former,  that  free  discussion  of  the  subject  of  slavery, 
more  particularly  in  its  aspects  as  connected  with 
missionary  policy,  was  not  allowed.     A  paying  con- 


382    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTEEN  STATES 

stituency  for  the  paper  could  not  be  built  up  under 
these  conditions.  The  editor  depended  for  his  per- 
sonal support  upon  his  salary  as  pastor,  first  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church,  then  of  the  Tabernacle  Church, 
founded  by  him.  When  at  the  end  of  two  or  three 
years,  he  resigned  thedatter  charge  and  left  Chicago, 
his  paper,  as  a  natural  result,  ceased  to  exist. 

Not  far  from  this  time,  in  1845,  Rev.  Alvin  Bailey 
had  commenced  the  publication  of  a  Baptist  paper 
in  Jacksonville,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Western 
Star."  Coming  to  Illinois  very  soon  after  his  ordi- 
nation, he  first  opened  a  school  at  Upper  Alton,  then 
for  a  time  served  as  pastor  the  Baptist  church  at 
Alton  City,  subsequently  was  pastor  at  Carrollton, 
and  at  the  date  of  beginning  his  newspaper  enter- 
prise, was  pastor  at  Jacksonville. 

"  To  his  paper,"  says  Gen.  Mason  Brayman,  "  he 
gave  unrequited  labor  for  some  two  years.  Like 
all  his  work  the  '  Star '  was  conservative,  helpful, 
and  in  its  degree  efficient.  But,  like  many  other 
ventures  of  its  kind,  it  was  not  a  success,  and  it 
was,  wdth  its  good  will  and  subscription  list,  trans- 
ferred to  the  struggling  denominational  paper  at 
Chicago."  This  "  struggling  denominational  paper  at 
Chicago "  had  now  become  the  "  Watchman  of  the 
Prairies,"  owned  and  edited  by  Rev.  Luther  Stone. 
This  paper,  however,  had  a  competitor  already  in 
the  field,  "  The  Western  Christian,"  founded  in  the 
same   year,    1845,    as    Mr.    Bailey's   paper,   "The 


JOURNALISM  383 

Western  Star."  A  joiut-stock  company  was  formed 
as  its  basis,  with,  as  mentioned  on  a  former  page. 
Rev.  A.  J.  Joslyn,  Rev.  J,  E.  Ambrose,  and  Rev. 
Spencer  Carr,  of  Racine,  for  leaders  in  the  enterprise. 
Rev.  Warham  Walker,  from  Western  New  York, 
however,  soon  became  the  editor,  and  the  paper  pub- 
lished at  Elgin  and  representing  the  Free  Mission 
movement  described  earlier  in  this  history,  gained  a 
considerable  circulation  in  Northern  Illinois  and  Wis- 
consin. At  the  end  of  some  three  years  "  The  West- 
ern Christian  "  was  removed  to  New  York  City,  and 
there  united  in  the  same  Free  Mission  interest  with 
the  "American  Baptist." 

Illinois  and  Wisconsin  had  now  become  a  field  for 
the  paper  at  Chicago.  Dividing  questions,  however, 
were  in  the  way  of  anything  like  a  united  support. 
Mr.  Stone  had  been,  while  "  The  Western  Christian  " 
was  in  process  of  publication,  very  decided  in  his 
opposition  to  the  views  of  missionary  policy  in  its 
relation  to  slavery  advocated  in  that  paper,  and  now 
found  those  who  had  shared  those  views  wholly  in- 
disposed to  give  him  their  support.  Mr.  Stone  had, 
after  graduating  at  Brown  University  and  at  New- 
ton, deliberately  chosen  the  West  for  his  field  of 
labor.  Immediately  upon  his  ordination,  in  1843, 
he  had  come  upon  the  Western  field,  and  engaged  in 
active  service,  mostly  itinerant  and  at  his  own  charges, 
until  the  year  1847,  when  he  began  the  issue  of  the 
paper  at  Chicago. 


384    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

Gen.  Brayman  has  appropriately  characterized 
Mr.  Stone's  enterprise  as  a  "  struggling "  one. 
Many  things  were  against  him.  He  persevered, 
however,  gaining  for  his  paper  a  considerable  circu- 
lation. After  six  years,  a  proposal  being  made  to 
him  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Burroughs,  who  had  become  pas- 
tor of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Chicago,  to  pur- 
chase his  paper,  with  its  subscription  list,  he  ac- 
cepted the  proposal  as  made.  Rev.  H.  G.  Weston, 
of  Peoria,  and  Rev.  A.  J.  Joslyn,  of  Elgin,  becoming 
associated  with  Mr.  Burroughs  in  the  temporary  man- 
agement of  the  paper,  which  had  been  suspended  for 
a  short  time  and  now  became  really  a  new  one,  with 
a  new  name,  "  The  Christian  Times."  This  arrange- 
ment was  consummated  in  1853,  the  publication  of  the 
paper  under  its  new  auspices  beginning  in  August  of 
that  year.  Mr.  Stone's  residence  continued  to  be  in 
Chicago,  where  he  interested  himself  much  in  de- 
nominational aifairs,  being  one  of  the  original  trus- 
tees of  the  Baptist  Theological  Union  founded  in 
that  city  and  its  first  secretary. 

The  time  had  come  when  Baptist  journalistic  en-' 
terprise  at  Chicago  might  enter  upon  a  new  career 
with  a  better  outlook.  That  rapid  growth  of  the  city 
which  has  eventuated  in  what  is  now  seen  had  al- 
ready begun.  A  question  long  pending  as  to  the 
point  at  which  intercommunication,  commerce,  edu- 
cational, and  other  influence,  should  center  was  rap- 
idly approaching  decision.     Those  who  now  under- 


JOUENALISM 


385 


took  the  responsibilities  of  journalism  in  behalf  of  the 
denomination,  not  only  in  Illinois,  but  over  the  entire 
Northwestern  field,  were  indeed  to  depend  wholly 
upon  their  own  resources,  with  neither  State  Con- 
vention nor  any  other  form  of  helpful  organization 
to  lend  its  support.     But  they  came  to  their  charge 
at  a  time  when  a  sense  of  need  as  to  efficient  jour- 
nalistic service  was  very  strongly  felt ;  at  a  time  too, 
when  a  conciliatory  policy  on  the  part  of  the  paper 
was  sure  to  be  appreciated  and  to  win  friends  in  its 
behalf.     The  vast  region  to  which  it  was  to  look  for 
a  constituency  was  rapidly  filling  up,  although  much 
of  it  was  yet  a  wilderness,  or  a  wide-stretching  prai- 
rie with  only  here  and  there  the  rude  home  of  the 
venturesome  pioneer.     It  was  felt,   however,   that 
year  by  year  the  mighty  empire  beyond  the  river 
must  be  dotted  with  towns  and  cities,  and  the  jour- 
nalistic field,  with  Chicago  as  its  center,  reach  the 
great  Western  mountains,  and  perhaps  the  shores  of 
the  far  Pacific  itself. 

Those  who  undertook  this  service  for  the  denomi- 
nation at  their  own  proper  risk,  were  as  yet  untried 
in  journalism,  save  in  the  case  of  one  of  them,  except 
such  experience  as  had  been  gained  in  occasional 
newspaper  correspondence.  Rev.  Leroy  Church,  who 
supplied  funds  for  beginning  the  new  enterprise,  had 
come  from  the  pastorate  of  the  Baptist  church  in 
Hudson,  N.  Y.  His  first  pastorate,  at  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.,  beginning  immediately  upon  his  graduation, 


386    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

had  lasted  until  1845^  in  which  year  his  pastorate  at 
Hudson  was  entered  upon,  continuing  until  his  com- 
ing to  Chicago  in  1853.  His  associate,  the  writer 
of  this  history,  was  a  few  years  younger,  having 
been  born  at  Ticonderoga,  N.  Y.,  in  1819.  Gradu- 
ating at  Union  College,  Schenectady,  in  1843,  after  a 
year  of  service  as  principal  of  the  academy  in  what 
was  then  East  Bennington,  Vt.,  he  entered  the 
ministry  as  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  North 
Bennington ;  after  five  years  there,  accepting  a  call 
to  the  pastorate  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  leaving  that  post  of  service 
in  November,  1853,  to  join  Mr.  Church  at  Chicago. 
The  proprietorship  of  the  paper  was  at  first 
held  by  the  two  parties  named,  and  the  editorial 
work  was  shared  between  them.  After  some  six 
months,  however,  Rev.  J.  F.  Childs,  then  pastor  in 
Lockport,  111.,  became  associate  proprietor  with  Mr. 
Church,  the  other  member  of  the  firm,  the  present 
writer,  devoting  himself  entirely  to  editorial  work, 
with  such  added  service  as  the  exigencies  of  the  en- 
terprise might  make  needful,  Mr.  Church  still  shar- 
ing the  responsibilities  of  that  department.  At  the 
time  Avhen  those  who  had  inaugurated  this  virtu- 
ally new  enterprise  and  whose  names  are  given 
above,  transferred  the  charge  of  it  to  their  succes- 
sors, Mr.  Edward  Goodman,  a  young  man  recently 
from  England,  was  already  engaged  in  seeking  to 
extend  its  circulation,  traveling  extensively  in  that 


JOUKNALISM  387 

behalf  in  Southern  Illinois  and  in  Iowa.  Mr. 
Cliilds,  after  a  brief  period  of  connection  with  the 
paper,  preferring  the  pastorate,  Mr.  Goodman  suc- 
ceeded him  in  the  proprietorship,  and  so  began  that 
influential  connection  with  the  paper  which  has  con- 
tinued until  the  present  time.  Mr.  Goodman  was 
born  at  Clipstone,  Northamptonshire,  England,  in 
1830.  He  became  a  Christian  in  1846,  and  was 
baptized  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  Determining  to 
make  for  himself  a  career  in  America,  he  came  to 
this  country  and  to  Chicago  in  1852,  where  he  be- 
came almost  at  once  associated  with  the  new  jour- 
nalistic enterprise  in  the  manner  described  above. 

With  Mr.  Church  and  Mr.  Goodman  as  proprie- 
tors, and  their  associate  giving  his  time  chiefly  to 
editorial  work,  the  paper,  as  "  The  Christian  Times," 
was  presented  to  the  denomination  of  the  Northwest 
as  a  candidate  for  confidence  and  support.  It  en- 
tered heartily  into  measures  for  promoting  the  in- 
terests of  the  denomination  in  the  several  States  and 
Territories  where  churches  were  being  planted.  As- 
sociations and  State  organizations  formed,  with  edu- 
cational institutions  planned  and  begun.  Many 
matters  on  this  field  were  still  in  controversy.  The 
slavery  question  was  steadily  growing  in  the  inten- 
sity of  its  bearing  upon  national  and  all  other  in- 
terests. Bible  revision  was  in  the  field  as  a  cause  of 
division,  sectional  and  State  interests  had  to  be  con- 
ciliated, with  meanwhile  the  natural  competition  of 


388    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

papers  in  the  East  and  Sonth  as  a  constant  obstacle 
to  increasing  circulation.  The  paper,  nevertheless, 
although  with  no  other  support  than  that  furnished 
by  itself,  held  on  its  way,  demanding  much  of  sacri- 
fice on  the  part  of  those  conducting  it,  but  reward- 
ing them  in  the  steady  growth  of  its  constituency, 
and  the  evidence  of  usefulness  in  many  lines  of  jour- 
nalistic service. 

It  was  perhaps  natural  that  both  in  the  earlier 
and  the  later  period  of  the  history  we  here  especially 
record,  other  papers  should  be  established  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  field,  either  as  State  organs,  or  as 
representing  views  of  brethren  especially  interested 
in  some  phase  of  controversy.  It  w^as  thus  mainly  in 
the  interest  of  Bible  revision,  while  that  question  was 
still  pending,  as  represented  in  the  American  Bible 
Union,  that  "  The  Illinois  Baptist "  was  established 
at  Bloomington,  by  Rev.  H.  J.  Eddy.  After  some 
years  of  continuance  this  enterprise  was  abandoned, 
and  the  paper  united  wdth  the  paper  at  Chicago.  In 
Southern  Illinois  other  like  ventures  w'ere  entered 
upon  from  time  to  time  in  the  course  of  years,  one 
of  them,  "  The  Baptist  Banner,"  in  the  hands  of 
Rev.  W.  P.  Throgmorton,  attaining  to  a  consider- 
able circulation,  with  a  very  decided  influence  over 
the  field  of  its  circulation  in  behalf  of  a  strong  view 
of  fundamental  Baptist  principle.  The  paper  was 
finally  united  with  that  at  St.  Louis,  Mr.  Throg- 
morton himself  becoming  pastor  at  Louisiana,  Mo. 


JOURNALISM  389 

The  chief  events  in  the  way  of  consolidation  of 
papers  established  as  State  organs,  or  for  other  pur- 
poses, were  these  which  follow  :  "  The  Witness  "  at 
Indianapolis,  established  by  Rev.  M.  G.  Clarke,  as 
mentioned  above,  at  which  time  the  name  "  Chris- 
tian Times"   was  changed  to  that  of   "Christian 
Times  and  Witness";    "The  Michigan   Christian 
Herald,"  as  also  previously  mentioned,  the  name  of 
the  consolidated  paper  then  becoming  that  which  it 
has  since  retained,  "The  Standard";   "The   En- 
sign," established  much  later  at  Minneapolis,  and 
ably  conducted  for  several  years  by  Rev.  Lemuel 
Moss,  D.  D.     In  1893  this  paper  also  was  united 
with  "  The  Standard."     A  paper  at  Topeka,  Kansas, 
named  "The  AVestern  Baptist,"  and  another  named 
"  The  Chronicle,"  at  Kansas  City,  Kansas,  held  for 
some  years  a  limited  field  in  Kansas  and  contiguous 
States.     These,  also,  finding  that  changed  conditions 
in  the  maintenance  of  newspapers,  and  other  causes, 
were  against  them,  in  the  end  were  discontinued; 
"  The  Chronicle  "  being  sold  to  "  The  Central  Bap- 
tist" of  St.  Louis,   while  the  other  paper  named 
transferred  its  list  to  "The  Standard,"  under  ar- 
rangement to  that  effect  with  its  editor.  Rev.  L.  H. 
Holt. 

In  the  year  1875  an  important  change  was  made  in 
the  proprietorship  of  the  paper,  involving  also,  for  a 
time,  change  in  the  associate  editorship.  In  that  year 
the  proprietary  interest  of  Mr.  Church  in  the  paper 


390    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

was  purchased  by  Rev.  J.  S.  Dickerson,  d.  d.,  who 
became  also  associate  editor.  His  deeply  lamented 
death,  in  the  year  following,  removed  from  the  field 
of  Baptist  journalism  one  from  whom  much  had 
been  expected  in  that  service,  both  because  of  his 
unusual  adaptations  to  such  service,  and  because  of 
a  record  already  made  in  it  as  associated  with  Dr. 
M.  B.  Anderson  in  "  The  New  York  Recorder  "  in 
1850,  and  later  in  connection  with  the  Philadelphia 
"Christian  Chronicle."  In  1861  he  became  pastor 
of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  in  Wilmington,  Del., 
rendering  important  service  during  the  war  in  con- 
nection with  the  Christian  Commission.  In  1865 
he  was  called  to  the  Fourth  Avenue  Baptist  Church, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.,  and  in  1870  to  the  South  Baptist 
Church,  Boston  ;  coming  from  that  charge  to  Chi- 
cago in  1875.  His  health  was  already  in  a  decline, 
and  after  less  than  a  year  of  connection  with  the 
paper  he  died  in  May,  1876,  his  loss  being  keenly 
felt  by  a  wide  circle  of  admirers  and  friends. 

The  second  wdfe  of  Dr.  Dickerson  was  Miss 
Emma  R.  Richardson,  daughter  of  Prof  J.  H. 
Richardson,  so  long  professor  of  Latin  at  Hamilton, 
and  afterward  in  the  University  of  Rochester.  Dr. 
Dickerson's  proprietorship  in  "  The  Standard,"  upon 
his  death,  passed  to  his  widow,  his  son,  Mr.  J.  Spen- 
cer Dickerson,  becoming,  after  a  few  years,  a  third 
proprietor,  the  proprietors  all  sharing  actively  with 
the  editor  in  conducting  the  paper  in  its  several  de- 


JOURNALISM  391 

partraents.  In  1893  Mr.  J.  S.  Dickerson  accepted 
the  position  of  managing  editor  of  the  "  Graphic/' 
an  ilkistrated  paper  in  Chicago,  and  after  two  years 
took  the  same  position  on  "  The  Baptist  Union," 
though  still  retaining  his  proprietary  interest  in  "  The 
Standard."  In  May,  1895,  he  became  managing 
editor  of  "  The  Standard." 

Mr.  Church,  at  the  time  his  interest  in  the  paper 
was  transferred  in  the  manner  described,  had  held 
his  connection  with  it  during  twenty-two  years,  a 
critical  period  in  its  history.  His  service  had  been 
in  all  departments  of  it,  with  much  time  given  also 
to  travel  in  its  interest,  and  attendance  upon  State 
and  local  meetings  far  and  wide  throughout  the 
West.  It  had  been  a  thorough  consecration  of 
means  and  time  and  talent  to  a  service  highly  im- 
portant to  the  denomination,  with  the  gratifying  con- 
sciousness of  having  shared  with  others  in  placing 
the  paper  upon  wdiat  might  be  hoped  to  be  an  en- 
during basis  ;  and  this  with  no  aid  from  any  public 
source  whatever,  other  than  that  which  came  in  the 
growing  numbers  of  its  constituency. 

Of  those  sharing  in  the  work  of  the  paper  we  may 
name  Mr.  James  O.  Brayman,  a  valued  worker  in 
its  editorial  department  during  many  years,  and  up 
to  the  very  time  of  his  death :  Dr.  William  C. 
Richards,  yielding  like  aid  in  editorial  work  during 
a  brief  period ;  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  by  whom,  first  of 
all,  the  Sunday-school  lessons  were  furnished,  "  The 


392    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Standard"  leading  the  way  in  that  form  of  publica- 
tion as  among  all  religious  weeklies  throughout  the 
country.  Mr.  Jacobs  was  followed  in  the  same  de- 
partment under  successive  arrangements  to  that 
effect  by  Dr.  W.  R.  Harper,  Prof.  R.  S.  Colwell,  of 
Denison  University,  Rev.  J.  M.  Coon,  and  Rev.  J. 
^Y.  Weddell.  Mr.  Weddell  had  been  connected 
with  "  The  Standard  "  aiding  in  editorial  work  and  in 
other  ways  since  1881. 

In  August,  1893,  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  the 
paper  and  of  the  connection  with  it  of  two  of  its  con- 
ductors, took  place.  The  occasion  was  improved  by 
friends  of  the  paper  in  various  testimonials,  in  the 
form  of  correspondence,  of  kindly  appreciation  and 
fellowship,  more  especially  on  the  part  of  not  a  few 
who  had  been  friends  and  supporters  from  the  time 
of  its  earliest  beginning. 

Two  other  Baptist  publications  in  Chicago  should 
be  mentioned  in  this  connection :  the  "  Baptist 
Union,"  in  the  interest  of  the  young  people's  socie- 
ties, edited  by  F.  L.  Wilkins,  d.  d.,  Secretary  of  the 
American  Baptist  Young  Peoples  Union,  and  the 
"  Tidings,"  organ  of  tlie  Women's  Baptist  Home 
Mission  Society.  The  former  had  been  purchased 
as  the  "  Young  Peoples'  Union,"  its  name  being 
changed  later  to  that  given  above.  Ably  conducted 
from  its  inception  it  was  an  important  instrument  of 
service  in  behalf  of  the  movement,  to  promote  which 
it  had  been  established.     "  The  Tidings  "  conducted 


JOURNALISM  393 

by  Miss  M.  G.  Burdette,  was  from  nearly  tlie  first 
years  of  the  society,  a  swift-winged  messenger  of 
news  and  of  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  society'^  gra- 
cious mission,  far  and  wide  over  the  West,  and  to  no 
small  extent  in  the  East. 

This  record  of  Baptist  journalism  at  Chicago,  as 
its  center,  would  be  incomplete  without  mention  of 
enterprises  undertaken  in  periodical  literature  with  a 
special  character  by  Dr.  William  R.  Harper.  Dr. 
Harper  came  to  the  theological  seminary  at  Morgan 
Park  in  1879,  from  Denison  University,  where  he 
had  serv^ed  as  principal  of  the  preparatory  depart- 
ment, although  with  the  reputation  of  remarkable 
qualification  for  service  as  instructor  in  the  Semitic 
languages  and  literature,  gained  especially  while  a 
student  at  Yale  University.  A  few  years  after  en- 
tering upon  his  work  at  Morgan  Park  as  professor 
of  Hebrew  and  the  cognate  languages,  he  embarked 
in  those  enterprises  for  promoting  interest  in  the 
study  of  these  languages  which  in  due  time  gained 
for  him,  while  yet  a  young  man,  a  distinguished 
name  among  Semitic  scholars,  both  in  America  and 
in  Europe.  One,  as  the  earliest  of  these  enterprises, 
was  the  establishment  at  Morgan  Park  of  "  The  He- 
brew Student,"  later  "  The  Old  Testament  Student," 
a  monthly  magazine  which  in  time  became  "  The 
Old  and  New  Testament  Student,"  and  upon  the 
connection  of  the  seminary  with  the  University  of 
Chicago,  the  "  Biblical  World,"  issued  by  the  Uni- 


894    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

versity  Press,  with  Dr.  Harper  still  as  its  editor. 
Not  long  after  "  The  Old  Testament  Student "  had 
become  well  established,  Dr.  Harper  began  the 
"Hebraica,"  a  quarterly,  in  the  interest  of  Semitic 
study  in  its  most  advanced  forms,  its  editor,  Dr. 
Harper,  having  the  co-operation  in  conducting  it  of 
distinguished  scholars  alike  in  America  and  in 
Europe.  This,  also,  was  continued  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago  under  the  same  editorship.  Both 
publications,  while  Dr.  Harper  was  professor  at 
Yale  University,  following  his  resignation  at  Morgan 
Park,  had  been  published  at  New  Haven,  the  trans- 
fer being  from  that  point  to  Chicago. 

It  may  be  proper,  also,  to  name  in  connection 
with  this  general  subject  other  periodicals  issued  at 
the  University  Press,  though  secular  in  character : 
"  The  University  Extension  World,"  "  The  Journal 
of  Geology,"  "  The  Journal  of  Political  Economy," 
— the  last  two  being,  the  one  a  quarterly  and  the 
other  a  bi-monthly,  and  "  The  Journal  of  Sociology," 
also  a  quarterly,  all  conducted  with  remarkable 
ability.  To  these  may  be  added  the  '*  University 
Weekly,"  conducted  by  students. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE   LATER    HISTORY 

A  TIMELY  and  useful  organization  in  which  all 
-^-^  the  five  States  included  in  our  history  j)ar- 
ticipated  was  the  Baptist  Ministers'  Aid  Society,  at 
first  incorporated  in  1885  under  the  laws  of  the 
State  of  Indiana.  The  need  of  such  a  provision 
had  come  to  be  very  strongly  felt.  In  States  like 
these  during  Avhose  earlier  history  ministerial  support 
had  been  more  or  less  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  quite 
inadequate  in  numerous  instances,  as  indeed  is  always 
too  much  the  case,  it  could  not  fail  to  happen  that 
the  need  of  such  a  society  would  be  emphasized  by 
facts  appealing  strongly  alike  to  sympathy  and  to 
the  sense  of  justice. 

In  the  summer  of  the  year  named  above,  a  meet- 
ing of  brethreji  from  several  of  the  States  occurred 
at  Logansport,  Ind.,  Rev.  H.  L.  Stetson  being  at 
the  time  the  pastor  there.  At  this  meeting  steps 
were  taken  toward  an  organization  in  aid  of  minis- 
ters incapacitated  for  service  by  age  or  other  causes, 
the  enterprise  being  there  fully  decided  upon  and  a 
committee  appointed  to  ascertain  where  the  most 
eligible  site  for  a  ministers'  home  might  be  found. 

395 


396    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Meetings  of  this  committee  were  held  at  Laporte, 
Inch,  ill  Chicago,  and  in  Detroit.  The  last  named 
occurred  in  the  summer  of  1886.  At  this  meeting 
it  was  learned  that  the  trustees  of  Fenton  Seminary, 
located  at  Fenton,  Mich.,  were  considering  the  sub- 
ject of  a  tender  of  the  property  of  that  institution 
for  the  purpose  in  contemplation.  A  visit  to  Fen- 
ton was  sufficient  to  make  the  fact  clear  that  no  site 
for  such  a  home  could  be  more  desirable.  The  ten- 
der was  made  and  gladly  accepted;  the  property  in- 
cluding eleven  acres  of  ground,  to  which  citizens  of 
Fenton  added  nine  more,  making  twenty  in  all. 

In  January,  1887,  the  Ministers'  Aid  Society  was 
reorganized  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Michi- 
gan, with  the  following-named  officers :  President, 
Rev.  H.  L.  Stetson,  Logansport,  Ind. ;  vice-presi- 
dent, D.  A.  Waterman,  Esq.,  of  Detroit ;  recording 
secretary.  Rev.  C.  W.  Barber,  Fenton ;  correspond- 
ing secretary.  Rev.  B.  F.  Gavins,  Peru,  Ind.  ;  treas- 
urer, J.  E.  Howard,  Esq.,  Detroit ;  auditor,  H.  B. 
Latourette,  Fenton. 

Rev.  E.  L.  Scofield,  d.  d.,  for  some  years  con- 
nected with  a  similar  enterprise  near  New  York 
City,  had  interested  himself  much  in  what  was  thus 
undertaken  in  behalf  of  the  aged  and  infirm  minis- 
try of  the  West,  and  for  a  time  represented  the  so- 
ciety with  encouraging  success  in  bringing  its  claims 
to  the  attention  of  the  churches.  In  January,  1888, 
Dr.  Scofield  having  resigned,  Rev.  A.  E.  Mather, 


THE    LATER    HISTORY  397 

D.  D.,  was  chosen  financial  secretary  and  general 
manager  of  the  home,  a  position  which,  at  the  date 
of  our  history,  he  still  occupies. 

The  story  of  the  work  under  his  care  is  an  inter- 
esting one.  The  home  was  opened  in  October,  1888. 
During  the  years  since  elapsing,  twenty-five  persons 
have  been  received  and  cared  for  as  inmates.  The 
society  has  also  given  either  entire  or  partial  sup- 
port to  one  hundred  and  forty-four  persons  outside 
the  home.  Seven  acres  of  land,  additional  to  what 
was  received  in  donation  have  been  purchased,  so 
that  the  home  now  has  a  farm  of  twenty-seven  acres, 
the  value  of  the  property  being  estimated  at  $50,- 
000.  The  society  has  received  into  its  treasury  an 
aggregate  of  about  $80,000,  of  which  $15,000  con- 
stitutes an  endowment  fund.  The  expenditures  in 
buildings,  furnishing,  and  maintaining  the  home  and 
supporting  beneficiaries,  or  in  the  entire  work  of  the 
society,  have  been  $64,300. 

It  was  a  fortunate  thing  for  the  enterprise  that 
Dr.  Mather,  so  soon  after  its  inception,  was  found 
available  as  leader  and  executive  officer.  He  had 
been  long  identified  with  Western  interests,  the 
family  to  which  he  belonged  having  removed  to 
Michigan  from  St.  Lawrence  County,  N.  Y.,  in 
1836.  His  service  in  the  ministry  began  at  Mount 
Clemens,  Mich.,  in  1851,  and  was  continued  at 
Romeo,  Pontiac,  and  later  at  Caro  and  Portland 
with  excellent  fruit  following.     During  ten  years, 


398    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

from  1866  onward,  he  served  as  district  secretary  of 
the  Home  Mission  Society,  and  otherwise  had  been 
one  of  the  most  active  men  in  the  State,  having  as- 
sisted at  the  dedication  of  more  than  fifty  houses  of 
worship.  The  executive  ability  made  evident  in 
these  several  spheres  of  service,  found  opportunity 
for  signal  success  in  a  position  where  wisdom,  tact, 
and  efficient  sympathy  were  qualities  so  indispen- 
sable. 

The  society  of  whose  opening  history  we  make 
this  brief  record,  comprehending  in  its  field  the 
five  States  with  which  our  narrative  is  chiefly  con- 
cerned, supplied  a  most  fitting  supplement  to  other 
forms  of  State  organization.  It  represented  an  in- 
terest common  to  them  all,  and  afforded  opportun- 
ity for  joint  care  of  a  class  of  faithful  laborers  too 
often  neglected,  if  not  forgotten,  in  those  late  years 
of  life  when  the  effects  of  toil  and  self-sacrifice 
and  hardship  are  felt  in  a  way  to  make  "  the  fellow- 
ship of  suffering"  a  reality  to  them,  and  a  just 
ground  of  appeal  to  those  whom  they  have  served 
long  and  well. 

It  is  not  possible  to  speak  definitely  of  the  work 
of  Baptists  in  charitable  lines,  for  they  are  often  as- 
sociated so  closely  with  other  denominations.  Wher- 
ever charitable  institutions  exist,  members  of  Bap- 
tist churches  are  found  upon  their  Boards  and  ac- 
tively engaged  in  promoting  their  interests.  Such  a 
work  distinctively  Baptist  has,  however,  within  a  few 


THE    LATER    HISTORY  399 

years  been  begun  in  Chicago,  that  of  the  Baptist 
Hospital.  The  first  president  of  its  board  was  Col. 
W.  G.  Bentley,  who  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  H.  A. 
Delano,  d.  d.,  and  in  1895  Rev.  L.  H.  Austin  was 
elected  to  this  position,  with  A.  C.  Cowperthwaite, 
M.  D.,  as  superintendent  of  the  hospital,  and  E.  E. 
Vaughan,  m.  d.,  president  of  the  training  school  for 
nurses.  Besides  the  Board  of  directors,  there  is  a 
Board  of  lady  managers,  of  which  Mrs.  L.  Brock- 
way  is  the  secretary.  Interest  in  this  hospital  is 
constantly  increasing,  and  it  will  soon  be  located  in 
permanent  and  commodious  quarters,  as  the  build- 
ing formerly  occupied  by  the  theological  seminary 
has  been  leased  by  the  Theological  Union  to  the 
hospital  management  for  a  term  of  years.  Twelve 
thousand  dollars  has  been  expended  in  refitting  the 
building  and  making  it  perfectly  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  a  hospital.  We  may  also  here  mention  the 
very  recent  establishment  of  a  Baptist  Orphanage, 
under  the  care  of  Rev.  E.  L.  Schofield,  at  Downer's 
Grove,  a  suburb  of  Chicago. 

Belonging  also  to  the  later  history  on  this  field  is 
the  origination  of  that  unique  form  of  service  which 
may  be  designated  as  Baptist  chapel  car  evangelism. 
In  the  year  1889  Rev.  Wayland  Hoyt,  d.  d.,  and 
his  brother,  Mr.  Colgate  Hoyt,  of  New  York,  the 
latter  connected  with  the  management  of  the  Wis- 
consin Central  Railway,  were  riding  upon  the  branch 
of  that  road  which  connected  Duluth  with  St.  Paul. 


400    HISTOEY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

The  conversation  of  the  two  brothers  turned  much 
upon  the  religious  destitution  of  that  portion  of  the 
far  Northwest  opened  up  to  popuhition  by  such  rail- 
roads as  the  Wisconsin  Central  and  the  Northern 
Pacific.  Difficulties  in  the  way  of  reaching  with  re- 
ligious instruction  the  nascent  communities  along 
these  lines  of  road,  were  referred  to  with  the  fact 
that  even  where  religious  work  had  been  begun,  it 
was  almost  inevitably,  in  the  circumstances,  tran- 
sient and  evanescent.  Mention  having  been  made 
of  a  recent  eifort  by  the  Roman  Catholic  archbishop 
in  that  quarter  to  carry  on  work  by  means  of  a  "  ca- 
thedral car,"  which,  however,  had  proved  abortive, 
Dr.  Hoyt  suddenly  turned  to  his  brother  with  the 
proposal  that  he,  with  other  men  of  wealth,  friends 
of  his,  and  engaged  in  like  interests,  should  put  it 
in  the  power  of  the  Baptists  to  institute  a  similar 
method  for  a  truer  evangelism.  The  suggestion  was 
entertained  with  much  favor  and  some  details  of  the 
undertaking  discussed. 

While  the  origination  of  this  method  of  frontier 
work  is  to  be  held  due  to  the  two  men  thus  named, 
its  success,  under  a  marked  divine  blessing,  has  been 
made  sure  by  the  enterprising  zeal  of  the  Publica- 
tion Society  in  availing  itself  of  such  an  opportu- 
nity, and  the  self-devotion  and  self-sacrifice  of  those 
in  charge. 

Returning  again  to  the  history  of  church  growth, 
it  will  be  remembered  that  in  a  former  chapter,  the 


THE    LATER    HISTORY  401 

later  history-  was  given  of  churches  in  Cincinnati 
and  Chicago.  At  this  point  some  indication  of  de- 
nominational growth  in  other  cities  will  be  appro- 
priate, so  far  as  it  can  be  seen  in  numbers  as  they 
now  stand.  Representative  figures  only  can  of 
course  be  given.  Beginning  upon  the  eastern  bor- 
der, the  impulse  toward  larger  growth  in  Detroit 
would  seem  to  have  been  felt  about  1860,  when  the 
Woodward  Avenue  Church  was  organized.  The 
First  Church  had  held  the  ground  during  the  in- 
terval of  thirty-three  years  since  its  own  organization 
in  1827,  a  second  church  being  formed  in  1838. 
The  long-continued  and  fruitful  pastorate  of  Rev.  Z. 
Grenell,  d.  d.,  crowned  a  succession  of  faithful  men, 
among  whom  we  find  Dr.  Nathaniel  Colver,  Rev.  C. 
K.  Colver,  Rev.  John  Mathews,  and  others.  The 
Woodward  Avenue  Church,  brilliantly  led  during 
many  years  by  its  late  pastor.  Dr.  C.  R.  Henderson, 
now  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  its  present 
one.  Rev.  D.  D.  MacLaurin,  is,  like  the  First 
Church,  known  among  the  foremost  churches  in  the 
West.  From  1878  the  Twelfth  Street  Church,  its 
present  pastor  Rev.  W.  H.  Stedman  ;  Eighteenth 
Street,  from  1877,  Rev.  T.  B.  Caldwell,  pastor; 
Clinton  Avenue,  1880,  its  pastor  Rev.  S.  A.  Re- 
man ;  Warren  Avenue,  1887,  with  Rev.  John 
Mathews,  as  first  pastor;  The  North,  1888,  with 
Rev.  R.  E.  Manning ;  Scolton  Avenue,  Rev.  W.  A. 
Rupert ;  these,  with  two  German  churches.  First  and 
2a 


402    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

Second,  dating  respectively  from  1864  and  1884, 
and  one  Negro,  the  Shiloh,  represent  Baptist  growth 
in  the  beautiful  city  where  they  exist.  They  num- 
ber, including  two  of  the  German  nationality,  thir- 
teen working  churches,  with  a  membership  of  not  far 
from  three  thousand. 

Those  familiar  with  Baptist  history  in  Milwaukee 
for  many  years  find  reason  for  much  rejoicing  over 
the  record  made  in  that  city  during  the  last  quarter 
of  a  century.  Milwaukee  has  at  our  present  date  six 
English-speaking  churches,  with  two  German,  and  a 
total  membership  of  one  thousand  two  hundred  and 
twenty-nine.  The  pastors  in  1894  were :  at  the 
First  Church,  F.  Evans,  d.  d.,  its  membership  three 
hundred ;  at  the  Tabernacle,  Rev.  E.  W.  White, 
membership  three  hundred  and  thirty-four ;  South, 
Rev.  W.  A.  McKillop,  three  hundred  and  two ; 
Fifth,  Rev.  Herman  Burns,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-eight ;  Immanuel,  Rev.  W.  M.  Corkery, 
sixty ;  Bay  View,  Rev.  C.  M.  Brodie,  fifty-five ; 
the  First  German  Church,  Rev.  J.  W.  Merkel,  pas- 
tor, two  hundred  and  eighty-six ;  and  the  Second, 
Rev.  Benj.  Otto,  pastor,  tw.o  hundred  and  one. 

The  First  Church  has,  in  the  course  of  its  history, 
built  three  houses  of  worship,  the  present  one  dur- 
ing the  long  and  able  ministry  there  of  Rev.  W.  P. 
Hellings,  d.  d.,  at  this  present  date  pastor  of  the 
First  Church  in  Omaha.  Earlier  pastors  had  been. 
Dr.  M.  G.  Hodge,  1878-81,  failure  of  health  com- 


THE    LATER    HISTORY  403 

pelHng  his  resignation,  A.  F.  Mason,  d.  d.,  and 
dating  much  farther  back,  Drs.  Fyfe  and  Piper.  Of 
pastors  who  have  been  conspicuous  leaders  of  Bap- 
tist enterprise  in  Milwaukee  should  be  named,  Dr. 
J.  D.  Herr,  first  pastor  of  the  Tabernacle,  and  Rev. 
D.  W.  Hulburt,  for  many  years  at  the  South 
Church,  next  at  Wauwatosa. 

From  an  early  time  Indianapolis  has  been  favored 
with  energetic  and  capable  men  in  Baptist  leader- 
ship. Some  names  of  such  have  already  been  given. 
An  important  date  in  the  history  of  the  First  Church 
is  that  of  1861,  when  Rev.  H.  Day,  d.  d.,  became 
pastor.  The  present  excellent  house  of  worship  was 
built  during  his  ministry  there,  and  in  all  ways  the 
work  uuder  his  leadership  had  signal  advancement, 
"  During  the  darkest  of  war  times,"  writes  Dr. 
Stott,  "his  church  met  in  the  ISIasonic  Hall.  At 
the  close  of  the  war  he  led  his  church  to  undertake 
a  building.  It  was  by  far  the  best  house  in  Indian- 
apolis at  the  time.  It  moved  other  denominations 
to  erect  better  houses,  and  Baptist  churches  through- 
out the  State  felt  the  same  impulse."  The  later 
pastorate  of  H.  C.  Mabie,  d.  d.,  is  also  deserving  of 
conspicuous  mention.  Perhaps  the  earliest  steps 
toward  active  enlistment  of  young  people  in  Chris- 
tian service,  at  least  on  this  field,  was  his  organiza- 
tion of  his  own  younger  members  as  a  "Yoke- 
Fellows  Society,"  the  example,  under  his  inspiration, 
beino;  followed  bv  other  churches  in  the  State  and 


404    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

elsewhere.  This  movement  antedates  the  Christian 
Endeavor  and  should  not  be  left  out  of  view  when 
the  history  of  one  of  the  most  significant  chapters  in 
modern  evangelism  comes  to  be  written.  The  suc- 
cession of  capable  men  in  the  Indianapolis  First 
Church  ends  at  the  date  of  the  present  record  in  the 
incumbency  of  Rev.  AV.  F.  Taylor,  whose  removal 
to  Seattle,  Washington,  occurred  in  the  summer  of 
1894. 

Incidents  in  the  later  educational  history  of  these 
States  should  be  given  as  we  close.  At  Franklin 
College,  Indiana,  the  commencement  for  1894  gained 
especial  interest  from  the  fact  that  with  the  college 
year  then  closing.  President  Stott  completed  twenty- 
five  years  of  incumbency  in  the  position  so  held. 
The  "History  of  Twenty-five  Years"  given  by  him 
on  the  occasion  interested  greatly  the  large  audience 
assembled  to  hear  him.  The  class  graduating  at  the 
college  was  the  largest  in  its  history,  numbering 
thirty,  with  nine  from  the  preparatory  department. 

The  commencement  at  Denison  University  in  June, 
1894,  was  made  an  occasion  of  even  unwonted  en- 
thusiasm by  the  dedication  of  two  new  buildings 
presented  to  the  university  by  generous  benefactors : 
the  Science  Hall,  costing  forty  thousand  dollars,  by 
Mr.  E.  J.  Barney,  of  Dayton,  and  the  Doane 
Academy  Building,  presented  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Doane, 
of  Cincinnati.  The  address  on  occasion  of  the 
former  dedication  was  by  Prof.  J.  J.  Stevenson,  of 


THE   LATER   HISTORY  405 

the  University  of  Chicago,  and  the  latter  by  Presi- 
dent William  R.  Harper,  whose  career  as  an  educa- 
tor had  begun  as  principal  of  the  Preparatory  De- 
partment at  Dcnison.     In  connection  with  the  open- 
ing of  the  Science  Hall,  the  work  of  the  university 
in  science  was  reorganized  upon  an  enlarged  basis, 
with  four  professors  to  give  to  it  their  whole  time. 
The  commencement  for  1894  at  Kalamazoo  Col- 
lege also  aiforded,  in  the  interest  shown  and  in  the 
character  of  the  exercises,  much  of  satisfaction  to 
friends  of  the  college  present.     The  baccalaureate 
sermon  was  by  Rev.  S.  Haskell,  d.  d.,  the  address 
before  the  alumni  by  Prof.  Stuart,  of  Lake  Forest 
University,  111.,  for  several  years  a  professor  in  the 
Old  University  of  Chicago,  and  the  address  to  the 
students  by  Prof.  B.  S.  Terry,  of  the  present  Uni- 
versity of  Chicago. 

At  the  1894  commencement  of  Shurtleff  College, 
the  president,  Adin  A.  Kendrick,  d.  d.,  closed  an 
incumbencv  of  twenty-two  years  by  presenting  his 
resignation  to  the  Board  of  trustees.  Dr.  Kendrick, 
a  graduate  of  Middlebury  College,  in  Vermont, 
after  a  theological  course  at  Rochester,  following  a 
brief  period  of  occupation  as  a  la^vyer,  which  pro- 
fession had  at  first  been  chosen,  held  important  pas- 
torates at  Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  entering  upon  ser- 
vice as  President  of  Shurtleff  College  in  1872.  It  is 
significant  of  the  spirit  in  which  his  administration 
had  been  conducted,  that  during  the  whole  period  of 


406    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IX  WESTERN  STATES 

his  presidency  there  had  been  no  instance  of  a  di- 
vided vote  on  any  question  in  the  Board  of  trustees. 
The  college  during  his  incumbency  had  made  con- 
stant and  marked  progress,  as  indicated  on  a  former 
page  in  this  history.  His  resignation  was  accepted 
with  great  reluctance,  and  only  after  urgent  effort 
to  induce  its  recall. 

A  successor  was  found  in  Principal  A.  K.  De 
Blois,  PH.  D.,  of  the  St.  Martin's  Seminary,  in  New 
Brunswick.  He  came  to  his  new  duties  with  the 
highest  testimonials  from  leading  educators  and  with 
auspices  in  all  ways  most  encouraging.  Another 
important  change  in  the  faculty  was  the  election  of 
P.  L.  M.  Castle,  son  of  the  late  Prof.  C.  L.  Castle, 
as  principal  of  the  College  Academy. 

The  great  event  as  connected  with  the  Summer 
Convocation,  1894,  at  the  University  of  Chicago, 
was  the  dedication  of  the  Ryerson  Physical  Labora- 
tory. This  stately  building,  erected  at  a  cost  of  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars,  was  on 
this  occasion  presented  to  the  university  by  the  mu- 
nificent donor,  ]\Ir.  Martin  A.  Ryerson,  of  Chicago, 
president  of  the  Board  of  trustees,  in  memory  of  his 
deceased  father.  The  presentation  ^address  was  by 
Mr.  Ryerson,  President  Harper  following  in  re- 
sponse, and  accepting  the  generous  gift  in  behalf  of 
the  university.  The  Convocation  address,  by  Prof. 
Michelson,  of  the  University,  having  for  its  subject, 
"  Some    of  the  Objects  and  Methods  of  Physical 


THE    LATER    HISTORY  407 

Science,"  was  a  further  recognition  of  the  value  of 
the  gift.  The  provision  of  another  million  dollars, 
based  on  conditional  offers  of  Mr.  John  T>.  Rocke- 
feller and  Mr.  Kyerson,  tlie  condition  being,  after 
most  strenuous  and  persevering  effort,  successfully 
met,  stimulated  still  further  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
occasion.  This  addition  to  the  resources  of  the  uni- 
versity was  announced  as  for  supply  of  apparatus 
and  other  equipment.  It  raises  the  entire  assets  of 
university  to  the  amount  of  not  far  from  eight  mil- 
lion dollars. 

One  note  of  sadness  mingled  with  the  general  re- 
joicing of  the  occasion,  announcement  of  the  death 
of  Ezekiel  G.  Robinson,  d.  d.,  Professor  of  Christian 
Ethics,  and  of  Rev.  B.  F,  Simpson,  Assistant  Pro- 
fessor of  Theology.  We  quote  from  the  Convoca- 
tion Statement  of  the  president :  "  The  history  of 
the  year's  work,  otherwise  a  most  joyous  one,  has 
been  saddened  at  its  very  close  by  the  death  of  two 
members  of  the  university  staff.  One,  our  oldest 
professor,  a  man  who  for  half  a  century  had  done 
valiant  service  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  education ; 
the  other,  one  of  our  younger  men,  just  entering 
upon  a  career  of  the  greatest  promise.  Both  were 
ordained  ministers  and  preachers  of  exceptional 
power.  In  both  cases  the  fatal  disease  had  been  at 
work  for  some  time,  although  at  the  end,  the  depar- 
ture was  so  sudden  as  to  be  a  shock  to  every  one. 
Both  had  entirely  finished   the  work  of  the  year. 


408    HISTORY  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  WESTERN  STATES 

The  lives  of  these  two  men  have  entered  into  the 
spirit  of  the  institution.  Professor  Kobinson  brought 
to  us  the  best  work  of  his  life.  His  presence,  dur- 
ing these  two  years,  was  a  constant  source  of  inspi- 
ration and  helpfulness." 

A  few  months  later,  Dr.  James  Robinson  Boise, 
the  beloved  scholar  and  teacher,  entered  into  rest. 
In  a  memorial  address.  Dr.  Galusha  Anderson  said 
with  eloquent  truth :  "  His  earthly  work  is  done, 
well  done.  Yet  his  influence  continues.  He  being 
dead  yet  speaketh.  The  things  that  are  seen  and 
heard  and  felt  are  temporal — they  cease  to  be ; 
but  the  things  that  no  eye  sees,  nor  ear  hears,  nor 
imagination  paints,  are  eternal — they  never  cease 
to  be.  God  is  not  seen,  he  is  eternal.  The  influ- 
ence which  goes  forth  from  a  good  man  and  his 
work  is  not  discerned  by  the  eye  nor  the  ear,  but 
it  is  undying."  With  these  brief  tributes  to  the 
memory  of  dear  brethren,  we  bring  our  narra- 
tive to  a  close.  The  workers  die,  but  the  work 
remains. 


SOURCES 


"The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac."   By 

Francis  Parkman. 
Appleton's  "  Cyclopaedia  of  Amer- 
ican   Biography,"   article, 
"George  Rogers  Clark." 
"Illinois,  Historical  and  Statisti- 
cal."   By  Hon.  John  Moses. 
"Journal    and    Messenger,"  Cin- 
cinnati, Editorial,  July,  1889. 
Benedict's  "History  of  the  Bap- 
tists," article,  "Ohio." 
"History  of  the  Miami  Associa- 
tion."   By  J.  H.  Dunlevy. 
Lecture  upon  the  Lemen  Family. 

By  Rev.  B.  B.  Hamilton. 
Correspondence   of    Rev.    W.    F. 

Boyakin. 
Paper    read    before    the    Baptist 
church  in  Dixon,  111.,  by  Mr.  J. 
T.  Little. 
Correspondence   of    Rev.    Daniel 

Shepardson,  Granville,  Ohio. 
Correspondence  of  Prof.  Franklin 

Johnson,  D.  d. 
Sprague's  "Annals  of   the  Amer- 
ican Baptist  Pulpit." 
"  Fifty  Years  of  Michigan  Baptist 
History."    By  Rev.  S.  Haskell, 
D.  D.,1886. 
Correspondence  of  Rev.  James  De- 

lany. 
"  Baptist  Home  Missions  in  North 
America,"  Jubilee  Volume.    By 
Dr.  H.  L.  Morehouse,  1882. 
A  paper  upon   "The   Men  who 


Wrought,"  read  at  the  semi-cen- 
tennial of  the  Michigan  State 
Convention,  1886,  by  Rev.  A.  E. 
Mather,  d.  d. 
Address  upon  "Home  Mission 
Pioneers,"  at  the  Denver  anni- 
versaries, 1893,  by  H.  C.  Woods, 

D.  D. 

A  paper  read  at  the  Michigan  semi- 
centennial, 1886,  by  T.  M.  Shan- 
afelt,  D.  D. 

Annual  report  of  the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society 
for  1839. 

Howe's  "  History  of  Ohio,"  quoted 
by  Isaac  Smucker,  in  "  History 
of  the  Welsh  Settlement  in  Lick- 
ing County,  Ohio." 

Historical  paper  read  at  the  roll- 
call  of  the  Dixon  Baptist  Church, 
at  its  Fiftieth  Anniversary,  Oc- 
tober 24,  1893,  by  Prof.  E.  C. 
Smith. 

"The  Western  Christian." 

Mr.  George  E.  Stevens,  in  Centen- 
nial Supplement  of  the  "  Journal 
and  Messenger,"  June  7,  1888. 

Correspondence  of  President  W. 
T.  Stott,  of  Franklin  College. 

Historical  discourse,  by  Rev.  S.  W. 
Duncan,  d.  d.,  at  the  semi-cen- 
tennial of  the  Ninth  Street  Bap- 
tist Church,  Cincinnati. 

Historical    and    biographical 
sketches   of    the    First   Baptist 
409 


410 


SOURCES 


Church  in  Detroit,  at  the  close 
of  its  first  half-century,  by  S. 
Haskell,  d.  d. 

Correspondence  of  Rev.  David 
Spencer,  d.  d. 

"Baptist  Cyclopfedia,"  p.  270. 

"  Census  Bulletin,"  for  1893. 

"  American  Church  History."  By 
Dr.  D.  H.  Carroll. 

"  Ohio  Baptist  Manual,"  for  1893. 

"Twenty  Years'  History  of  the 
Woman's  Baptist  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  West." 
By  Mrs.  A.  M.  Bacon,  1891. 

"Woman's  Work  and  Organiza- 
tion in  Michigan,"  a  paper  read 
by  Mrs.  L.  B.  Austin,  of  Detroit, 
at  the  semi-centennial,  1886. 

"  Records  of  Annual  Meetings  of 
the  Ohio  Baptist  State  Conven- 
tion."   By  Rev.  George  E.  Leon- 


ard, D.  D.  Compiled  from  original 
records  preserved  in  the  library 
of  Deuisou  University. 

An  historical  paper  read  by  Rev. 
David  Spencer,  D.  d.,  at  the  State 
anniversaries  in  Merton,  Wis- 
consin, in  1893 ;  also  papers  by 
Drs.  J.  D.  Herr  and  M.  J.  Hodge, 
read  at  the  semi-centennial  of 
Wisconsin  Baptists,  held  at  Wau- 
kesha in  1888. 

A  paper  by  Prof.  F.  W.  Shcpard- 
son,  of  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago, in  the  Fifth  General  Cata- 
logue of  Denison  University, 
1893. 

"The  Baptists  and  the  National 
Centenary."  American  Baptist 
Publication  Society,  1876,  article, 
"  Home  Missions." 


INDEX 


Academies  :  the  planting  of,  355 ; 
the  value  of,  356 ,  experience  of, 
in  Indiana,  357-359;  in  Illinois, 
359,  360;  in  Ohio,  360-362 ;  in  Wis- 
consin, 362-364. 

Aid  Society,  Ministers' :  estab- 
lished, 395 ;  reorganized,  396 ; 
continued  history  of,  395-399. 

Allen,  Rev.  Thomas,  207. 

Ambrose,  Rev.  J.  E. :  sketch  of, 
48,  49. 

Anderson,  Dr.  Galusha  A. :  con- 
nected with  Old  University  of 
Chicago,  288-290;  professor  at 
Morgan  Park,  311 ;  quotation 
from,  408. 

Association  :  Miami,  organized,  31 ; 
Illinois  River,  organized,  50 ; 
Springfield,  organized,  100;  Bap- 
tist General,  of  Illinois,  228. 

Aurora ;  center  of  foreign  missions, 
57. 

Bailey,  Rev.  G.  S. :  originator  of 
pastors'  conferences,  239 ;  secre- 
tary of  Chicago  Theological  Sem- 
inary, 346,  347. 

Baptist  history :  begun  in  Ohio, 
26,117;  Illinois,  26;  Indiana,  26; 
initial  leaf  of,  26,  27 ;  and  mis- 
sionary enterprise,  120. 

Baptists :  number  of,  in  Ohio,  81 ; 
growth  of,  in  Milwaukee,  115 ; 
and  Disciples,  135 ;  in  Chicago, 
155;  ministry  of,  in  Cincinnati, 


149-153 ;  ministry  of,  in  Chicago, 
149-162  ;  general  union  meeting 
of,  224 ;  an  unwonted  proposal 
to,  302. 

Baptists,  Western :  indebted  to 
pioneer  laymen,  33  ;  men  prom- 
inent among,  in  Ohio,  36-39 ; 
pioneers  of,  in  Illinois,  48;  pio- 
neers of,  in  Michigan,  61,  62; 
prominent  ones  in  Wisconsin, 
67 ;  interest  of  East  in,  74  ;  true 
to  fundamentals,  91 ;  divisive 
influences  among,  91 ;  creed  of 
portion  of,  92;  certain  hinder- 
ing elements  among,  122 ;  and 
Campbellism,  135 ;  and  anti- 
slavery,  137;  co-operating  in 
foreign  missions,  191 ;  indebted- 
ness of,  to  Home  Mission  Society, 
196 ;  general  convention  of,  330 : 
educational  movements  of,  335 ; 
educational  development  of,  350 ; 
and  educational  institutions, 
355,  356 ;  interested  in  Journal- 
ism, in  Michigan,  37.5-380. 

Baptist  Weekly  Journal :  founded 
by  Mr.  Stevens,  37. 

Binney,  Dr.  J.  G. :  mentioned,  166, 
167. 

Blackall,  Rev.  C.  R. :  connected 
with  publication  work,  248. 

Burroughs,  Rev.  J.  C.  :  pastoi 
at  Chicago,  1.54  ;  ofl^cially  con-> 
nected  with  The  (old)  Univeri 
sity  of  Chicago,  281-288. 

411 


412 


INDEX 


Campbell,  Alexander:  visits  Cin- 
cinnati, 103 ;  causes  division, 
105;  disciples  of,  133;  hope  of, 
134 ;  controversy  connected  with, 
136. 

Canada :  relation  of,  to  France,  9 ; 
emigrants  from,  10 ;  French  pos- 
session of,  14, 

Chapel  Car  Evangelism :  organ- 
ized, 399,  400. 

Chicago :  log  hut  erected  at,  13 ; 
as  a  military  post,  19 ;  growth  of, 
19 ;  first  Baptist  sermon  preached 
in,  61 ;  early  history  of,  94 ; 
Allen  B.  Freeman  missionary  at, 
95;  church  organized  at,  96; 
details  in  history  of,  98 ;  resump- 
tion of  history  at,  154-62;  Bap- 
tist ministry  in,  149-62 ;  Young 
People's  Union  organized  in, 
256;  organization  of  Old  Uni- 
versity at,  282:  history  of  Old 
University  at,  280-91 ;  preferred 
for  new  university,  301 ;  meeting 
of  Education  Society  in,  303; 
new  university  organized  in, 
303 ;  making  gifts  to  Chicago 
University,  306 ;  convention  in 
interests  of  education  held  at, 
340;  theological  seminary  at, 
341 ;  development  of  seminary 
at,  342-51 ;  great  meeting  at,  353 ; 
struggling  Baptist  paper  at,  382 ; 
brighter  prospect  for  journalism 
in,  384  ;  Baptist  hospital  in,  399. 

Church :  Columbia,  founded  at 
C  in  c  i  n  n  a  t  i,  27 ;  Columbia, 
marked  by  m  o  n  u  m  e  n  t,  28 ; 
planted  at  Silver  Creek,  54  ;  first 
organized  in  Wisconsin,  66;  of 
Indians  organized,  66 ;  at  Janes- 
ville  organized,  72 ;  at  New  De- 
sign, 82;  First  Baptist,  at  Chi- 
cago founded,  96 ;  Second,  organ- 


ized at,  98 ;  at  Springfield,  99 ; 
at  Peoria,  102 ;  founded  in  Ohio, 
104  ;  Ninth  Street,  at  Cincinnati, 
106 ;  organized  at  Detroit,  109 ; 
organized  at  Milwaukee,  113 ; 
First,  at  Cleveland  celebrating 
semi-centennial,  116;  growth 
considered,  140,  141 ;  debt,  145 ; 
Ninth  Street,  Cincinnati,  149-153  ; 
pastors  of  First,  at  Chicago,  155- 
159  ;  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  167  ;  organ- 
ized at  Upper  Alton,  170 ;  semi- 
centennial of,  at  Alton,  171. 

Churches :  organized  in  Illinois, 
50 ;  organized  in  Indiana,  59 ; 
some  in  Wisconsin  named,  67 ; 
members  of,  given  in  1832,  80 ;  an 
example  of  their  founding,  86  ; 
early  planting  of,  94;  in  Illi- 
nois, 99  ;  organized  in  Ohio,  104  ; 
represented  at  recognition  in 
Detroit,  109 ;  in  Illinois  Baptist 
Union,  137  ;  in  "  Friends  of  Hu- 
manity," 139 ;  seeking  relief  from 
debt,  145,  146  ;  in  Cincinnati,  149- 
152  ;  in  Chicago,  154-162  ;  at  differ- 
ent points  in  Illinois,  174  ;  aided 
by  Home  Missionary  Society,  197, 
198;  weak  in  Indiana,  229; 
growth  of  in  Wisconsin,  237. 

Church  growth  :  tliought  respect- 
ing, 141 ;  retarded,  144  ;  laymen 
active  in,  147 ;  later  instances  of, 
400-404. 

Cincinnati :  Affording  an  example, 
18;  passage  pertaining  to,  103; 
original  site  of,  104 ;  church  or- 
ganized  at,  101;  Alexander 
Campbell  visits,  105  ;  church  at, 
rent,  105 ;  S.  W.  Lynd  at,  106 ; 
Ninth  Street  Church  organized 
at,  106 ;  pastors  of  Ninth  Street 
Church  in,  149-153 ;  center  of 
Mission  Society,  221 ;  commercial 


INDEX 


413 


center,  329  ;  important  conven- 
tion held  in,  330 ;  "  Weekly  Jour- 
nal "  started  in,  305. 
Civil    War:    ordeal   of,    140;    the 
years  antedating,  144 ;  influenc- 
ing   Chicago    University,    280; 
Franklin  College  closed  by,  313 ; 
interfering  with  institutions  at 
Chicago,  341. 
Clark,  Col.    Geo.    Rogers:    enter- 
prises of,  14;  winning  territory 
from  French,  19 ;  old  soldiers  of, 
20. 
Cleveland,  First  Church:    organ- 
ized, 116;    pastors   of,  117;    Dr. 
Strong,  pastor  at,  118 ;  Hon.  J.  M. 
Hoyt,  member  of,  118. 
Comstock,  Rev.  Elkanah,  63. 
Colby,  Rev.  H.  F.,  pastor  at  Day- 
ton, 168. 
Cole,  Rev.  Jirah  D.,  2M-205. 
Controversy:    with  Campbollites, 
136;  with  Free  Mission  Society, 
192-194  ;  concerning  Bible  Union, 
194-195  ;  still  prevailing,  387. 
Convention :     New    York    State, 
spoken  of,  62-64  ;  Ohio  State,  or- 
ganized, 81,  222 ;  Northwestern, 
organized,    225;    Northwestern, 
consolidated,  227-228 ;  of  South- 
ern Illinois,  229  ;  Indiana  State, 
229;  plan  of  Indiana  State,  230; 
Michigan    State,    231-2.34;    New 
York,  model  of  Michigan,  232; 
Michigan,  well  planned,  294  ;  of 
Michigan   interested   in  educa- 
tion,   277,    279,    280;     Michigan 
State,  and  journalism,  375-380. 
Corwin,    Judge  Matthias:    brief 

sketch  of,  33. 
Covington :  seminary  founded  at, 

332. 
Cressy,  Rev.  Timothy :  sketch  of, 
38,  39. 


Cutting,  Dr.  S.  S. :  connected  with 
Education  Society,  295. 

Dearborn  Observatory,  291. 
Delaney,  Rev.  James:   character- 
istics of,  68;  quotations  from,  68, 
69,  71,  72  ;  description  of,  70. 
Detroit:    passing    into    American 
hands,  18;  beginnings  of  Baptist 
history    in,     64-108;     Baptist 
church  organized  at,  108 ;  First 
Church  of,  109 ;  discouragements 
at,  110;   pastorates   at,   111; 
church  growth  in,  401-402. 
Disciples     (Campbellites)  :    men- 
tioned,   133;    doctrines  of,  134; 
and  Baptists,  135. 
Dixon:    creed  of   church  at,  92; 

origin  of  name  of,  93. 
Dodge,   Rev.  Josiah :    mentioned, 

44. 
Douglas,  Hon.  S.  A. :  giving  site  of 

University  of  Chicago,  281. 
Dunlevy,  Judge :  short  sketch  of, 
31-33. 

Education:  movements  for,  259, 
200;  resolution  for,  260;  aid  so- 
licited for,  260;  consultation  in 
the  interests  of,  261 ;  Granville 
College  organized  for,  204  ;  strug- 
gles for,  265  ;  movements  for,  in 
Illinois,  200 ;  connection  of  Rev. 
John  M.  Peck  with,  200;  con- 
nection of  Hubbell  Loomis  with, 
267,  208  ;  institutions  for  purpose 
of,  270,  271;  of  rising  ministry, 
275;  commission  in  interest  of, 
organized,  295;  Society  organ- 
ized, 296-298  ;  Society  meeting  at 
Chicago,  303;  faithful  men  con- 
nected with,  309  ;  convention  in 
the  interest  of,  330;  Western,  So- 
ciety formed,  332;   theological. 


414 


INDEX 


at  Kalamazoo  and  Shurtleff,  336, 
337  ;  convention  in  the  interests 
of,  338  ;  Northwestern,  Society  or- 
ganized, 339;  Chicago  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  opened  in  interest 
of,  345  ;  academies  in  connection 
with,  355-357 ;  later  incidents 
connected  with,  401-408. 

Elements,  opposing  :  existing,  120  ; 
anti-mission  and  anti-Sunday- 
school,  121,  122;  in  "Two-seed 
Doctrine,"  124  ;  defection  caused 
by,  135. 

Evarts,  Rev.  W.  W. :  pastor  at 
Chicago,  155 ;  church  location 
changed  under,  156.     ' 

Ewing  High  School  and  College, 
292. 

Foreign  Missions :  Aurora,  center 
of,  57 ;  influencing  home,  74  ; 
among  Indians,  185 ;  Western 
Baptists  co-operating  in,  191 ; 
Western  work  in,  203 ;  workers 
for,  201-209  ;  among  women,  209- 
214. 

Franklin :  an  educational  center, 
164  ;  pastors  at,  1G5  ;  organization 
of  Manual  Labor  Institute  at, 
270 ;  college  chartered  at,  211 ; 
presidents  of  college  at,  313-315  ; 
recent  commencement  of  col- 
lege at,  404. 

Freeman,  Rev.  Allen  B.  •  men- 
tioned, 48;  finishing  studies  at 
Hamilton,  95 ;  accepting  an  ap- 
pointment to  Chicago,  95;  Ordi- 
nation of,  96 ;  early  death  of, 
97,  98. 

Free  Mission  Society :  position  of, 
192 ;  controversy  with,  193,  194 ; 
results  of  agitation  of,  194. 

French  adventure  and  coloniza- 
tion, 9. 


Friends  of  Humanity  :  association 
so  named,  139. 

Gano,  Rev.  Stephen  :  visiting  Ohio, 
27 ;  baptizing  at  Columbia,  29. 

Gates,  Rev.  F.  T. :  and  education 
society,  298,  299;  and  Chicago 
University,  302. 

Going,  Dr.  Jonathan  :  drawn 
toward  needs  of  West,  75 ;  re- 
signing at  Worcester,  80;  esti- 
mate of  destitute  churches  by, 
80 :  application  to,  95 ;  interested 
in  higher  education,  263. 

Goodman,  Edward,  387. 

Goodspeed,  Dr.  T.  W. :  connected 
with  New  University  of  Chicago, 
305  ;  sketch  of,  348. 

Granville:  settlement  of,  87-89; 
an  educational  center,  169,  170 ; 
resolutions  adopted  at,  263  ;  col- 
lege at,  264  ;  list  of  presidents  of 
college  at,  308-310  ;  sketches  of 
professors  of  college  at,  323-325 ; 
academy  at,  361 ;  recent  com- 
mencement of  Denison  Univer- 
sity at,  404. 

Haigh,  Rev.  Wm.  M.,  201. 

Hamilton,  Rev.  B.  B.:  quoted  from, 
42  ;  referred  to,  45  ;  sketch  of,  47. 

Harper,  Dr.  W.  R. :  mentioned  in 
connection  with  New  University 
enterprise,  301  ;  chosen  president 
of  University  of  Chicago,  305 ; 
professor  at  Morgan  Park,  349 ; 
receiving  headship  of  Morgan 
Park  Seminary,  353 ;  president 
of  divinity  school,  354 ;  con- 
nected with  various  publica- 
tions, 393,  394. 

Haskell,  S.,  D.  D. :  quoted  from, 
61,  62;  coming  to  Michigan,  66. 

History,  Baptist:    In  States  con- 


INDEX 


415 


sidered,  23 ;  beginning  early,  2f> ; 
beginning  in  Detroit,  64 :  in 
Michigan,  65 ;  characterized  by 
growth  in  foreign  mission  work, 
203. 

History:  outline  of,  22;  Baptist, 
within  considered  States,  23. 

Holden,  C.  N. :  mentioned,  99. 

Holman,  Judge  Jesse  S. :  spoken 
of,  56,  57. 

Home  Mission  Society:  introduc- 
tion of,  to  Illinois,  48  ;  connected 
with  Western  Baptists,  74;  or- 
ganized, 77 ;  annual  report  of, 
quoted,  87;  help  of,  recognized, 
196;  services  rendered  by,  196- 
198 ;  men  commissioned  by,  197, 
198 ;  district  secretaries  of,  199  ; 
interest  of  women  in,  214-219; 
entering  Illinois,  225  ;  co-opera- 
tion with,  225 ;  Board  of,  recom- 
mending workers,  227 ;  and  Edu- 
cation Society,  297. 

Home  Missions :  influenced  by 
foreign,  74. 

Hoyt,  Hon.  J.  M. :  sketch  of,  118, 
119. 

Hoyt,  Dr.  Wayland  :  at  Cincinnati 
and  Brooklyn,  152;  connected 
with  chapel  car  organization,  399. 

Illinois :  settled,  13  ;  pioneers  in, 
17;  organized  as  Territory,  22; 
admitted  into  Union  1818,  22; 
Baptist  history  begun  in,  26;  first 
baptisms  in,  44  ;  first  church 
organized  in,  45;  pioneer  Bap- 
tists in,  48;  Rev.  J.  F.  Tolman 
came  to,  51 ;  laymen  active  in, 
52 ;  statistics  for,  80 ;  report  of  a 
missionary  from,  86;  first  Asso- 
ciation in,  137 ;  first  Sunday- 
school  in,  170 ;  points  of  interest 
in,  174-177;   State  organization 


in,  223;  Home  Mission  Society 
in,  225 ;  movement  for  education 
in,  266  ;  academies  in,  359,  360 ; 
journalism  in,  380-394. 

Illinois  River  Association  :  organ- 
ized, 50;  part  of  State  Conven- 
tion, 226. 

Indiana:  settled,  13  ;  set  off  as  Ter- 
ritory, 22;  admitted  to  Union, 
22 ;  Baptist  history  begun  in,  26 ; 
Baptist  pioneers  in,  5-1 ;  begin- 
nings in,  54 ;  conspicuous  Bap- 
tists in,  55;  laymen  prominent 
in,  56 ;  statistics  for,  80  ;  progress 
in,  163 ;  churches  in,  163-165 ; 
State  organization  in,  229;  State 
Convention  plan,  230 ;  good 
results  in,  231 ;  educational  in- 
stitutes organized  in,  270,  271 ; 
Franklin  College  in,  313;  ex- 
periences of  academies  in,  357- 
359  ;  journalism  in,  373-376  ;  Min- 
isters' Aid  Society  established 
in,  395. 

Indianapolis :  Rev.  T.  R.  Cressey, 
pastor  at,  39 ;  First  Baptist 
Church  in,  116;  early  times  in, 
116  ;  Sunday-school  at,  246  ; 
church  growth  in,  403,  404. 
Indians :  dealings  with, at  Chicago, 
94  ;  missionary  effort  for,  184, 185  ; 
Mr.  McCoy  missionary  among, 
186-188 ;  removed  from  Michi- 
gan, 190. 

Jacobs,  B.  F. :  foremost  Sunday- 
school  man,  249. 

Johnson,  Rev.  Hezekiah :  sketch 
and  description  of,  33-35. 

Johnson,  Franklin  :  extract  from, 
132,  133. 

"  Journal  and  Messenger  "  :  quoted 
from,  27;  history  of  formation 
of,  370-374. 


416 


INDEX 


Journalism :  beginning  of,  in  Ohio, 
36;  Baptist  Weekly  Journal 
founded  in  interest  of,  37 ;  early 
efforts  in,  surprising,  365  ;  enter- 
prises in  connection  with,  in 
Ohio,  366-373;  in  Indiana,  373- 
376;  in  Michigan,  375-380;  in 
Illinois,  380-394  ;  brighter  pros- 
pect for,  in  Chicago,  384. 

Kalamazoo :  Literary  Institute  at, 
272 ;  land  purchased  at,  for  school 
purposes,  277;  institution  at, 
changed,  276  ;  description  of 
institution  at,  279,  280;  list  of 
presidents  of  college  at,  316,  317 ; 
professors  at  college  at,  326,  327  ; 
theological  education  at,  336; 
instructors  at,  336 ;  recent  com- 
mencement of,  college,  405. 

Lasher,  Dr.  Geo.  W. :  connection 
of,  with  Ohio  journalism,  372, 
373. 

Laymen:  some  of,  named,  52; 
one  of,  named,  56 ;  active  in 
Wisconsin,  67;  in  Springfield 
Church,  101 ;  in  Michigan,  111 ; 
activity  of,  146;  in  church 
growth,  147. 

Lee,  Rev.  John,  84. 

Lemen,  James:  mention  of,  20; 
sketch  of,  given,  39-41 ;  organiz- 
ing a  church,  138. 

Lemen,  James,  Jr.:  brief  sketch  of, 
46. 

Life,  Western :  freedom  of,  90 ; 
sturdiness  of,  90 ;  source  of  best 
forms  of,  93. 

Loomis,  Rev.  Hubbel :  mentioned, 
36,  37. 

Loyalist :  Movement,  so  called, 
252-254 ;  the,  paper,  254 ;  Ne- 
braska workers  interested    in, 


movement,  253;  paper,  pur- 
chased by  Publication  Society, 
255. 
Lynd,  Rev.  S.  W. :  at  Cincinnati, 
106 ;  founding  church,  107 ;  pas- 
torate of,  at  Cincinnati,  108, 150. 

Massachusetts  Domestic  Mission- 
ary Society  :  mentioned,  75,  77. 

McCoy,  Rev.  Isaac :  sketch  of,  59- 
61;  connection  of,  with  Wilson 
Thompson,  127;  missionary  to 
Indians,  185;  work  of,  among 
Indians,  186-188 ;  criticism  of,  by 
Triennial  Convention,  187. 

Miami  Association  :  organized,  31 ; 
quotation  from  history  of,  32,  33. 

Michigan  :  settled,  13 ;  organized 
as  Territory,  22;  as  State,  22; 
Baptist  history  begun  in,  61 ; 
second  ordained  Baptist  minis- 
ter in,  63 ;  early  Baptist  history 
in,  65,  66 ;  early  church  planting 
in,  78 ;  statistics  for,  80  ;  laymen 
in,  112;  points  of  interest  in, 
178-181 ;  work  among  Indians  of, 
188  ;  Indians  removed  from,  190 ; 
State  organization  in,  231-234 ; 
educational  institutions  in,  272- 
279  ;  journalism  in,  375-380. 

Milwaukee :  first  mention  of,  20 ; 
laid  out,  20 ;  growth  of,  21 ; 
first  Baptist  preacher  in,  67; 
first  church  at,  113 ;  first  child 
born  at,  113;  pastorate  of  Mr. 
Conrad  at,  113,  114 ;  and  pastor- 
ate of  Mr.  Raymond,  114,  115; 
Baptist  growth  in,  115;  church 
growth  in,  402,  403. 

Ministers :  pioneer,  25 ;  in  Ohio, 
31 :  laboring  in  Michigan,  67 ; 
pioneer  life  of,  pictured,  71,  72 ; 
character  of,  76;  itinerant,  83. 

Ministry :  pioneer,  25 ;  pioneer  life 


INDEX 


417 


of,  described,  71 ;  labors  de- 
picted, 78 ;  itinerancy  of,  82 ; 
question  of  salaried,  129,  130; 
energy  of,  148 ;  in  Cincinnati, 
14i)-l.')2  ;  in  Chicago,  l.')4-l(;2. 

Miscellany,  The  Baptist :  begin- 
ning of  journalism  in  Ohio,  36. 

Missionary,  Tlie :  related  to  ex- 
plorer, 10;  a  report  from,  86,  87; 
organizing  Sunday-schools,  217. 

Missions :  the  subject  of,  120 ;  ideas 
against,  121. 

Mississippi,  The :  discovery  of,  13 ; 
French  occupation  of  its  banks, 
14 ;  States  east  of,  22. 

Morehouse,  Dr.  H.  L. :  description 
from,  76  ;  quoted,  82  ;  originating 
Education  Society,  296. 

Morgan  Park  :  Dr.  Anderson  pro- 
fessor at,  311 ;  theological  semi- 
nary moved  to,  348;  develop- 
ment of  seminary  at,  348,  349 ; 
standing  of  seminary  at,  3-50; 
commencement  of  seminary  at, 
352 ;  removal  of  seminary  at,  353. 

Morgan,  Gen.  T.  J. :  the  father  of, 
59;  profes.sor  at  Tilorgan  Park, 
349. 

Moses,  Judge:  quoted,  21. 

Ninth  Street  Church,  Cincinnati ; 
pastors  of,  149-152 ;  illustration 
of  central  jxiwer  of,  153 ;  im- 
portant convention  held  in,  330. 

Northrup,  Dr.  Geo.  W. :  acting  as 
president  of  University  of  Chi- 
cago, 287;  sketch  of,  343,  344; 
passing  over  Morgan  Park  Sem- 
inary, 353  ;  professor  in  Chicago 
divinity  school,  354. 

Ohio :  settled,  13 ;  organized  as  Ter- 
ritory, 22;  admitted  to  State- 
hood, 22 ;  Baptist  history  begun 


2b 


in,  26 :  perilous  times  in,  'Si ; 
pioneer  ministers  in,  31 :  Rev. 
Hezekiah  Johnson  active  in,  34  ; 
Baptists  in  history  of,  36-39; 
State  Convention  organized  in, 
81 ;  number  of  Baptists  in,  81 ; 
first  church  organized  in,  104 ; 
conditions  of  work  in,  132,  133 ; 
progress  in,  166;  churches  and 
pastors  in,  166-170 ;  First  Church, 
Dayton,  in,  167;  organization  of 
State  Convention  in,  222,  223 ; 
efficiency  of  State  organization 
in,  241 ;  originating  higher  edu- 
cation, 259 ;  organization  oi 
school  in,  proposed,  261 ;  journal- 
ism in,  366-374. 

Organization  :  first,  upon  AVestern 
ground  for  mission  purposes,  220 ; 
of  State  Convention  in  Ohio,  222, 
223  ;  in  Illinois,  223  ;  in  Wiscon- 
sin, 225,  234-236  :  new  measures  in 
State,  227  ;  State,  in  Illinois,  diffi- 
cult, 228;  State,  in  Michigan, 
231-234 ;  benefit  of  State,  240 ;  of 
Young  People's  Union,  256;  of 
school  in  Ohio  proposed,  261;  of 
Granville  College,  264  ;  of  Shurt- 
leff  College,  268,  269 ;  of  Manual 
Labor  Institute  at  Franklin.  270 ; 
of  University  of  Chicago,  282; 
of  Educational  Commission,  295  ; 
of  Education  Society,  295-298 ;  of 
new  University  of  Chicago,  303  ; 
of  Western  Education  Society, 
332 ;  of  Northwestern  Education 
Society,  339;  of  Baptist  Theo- 
logical Union,  340 ;  of  seminary 
at  Chicago,  341,  .342 ;  of  acade- 
mies, .357-.364 ;  of  Ministers'  Aid 
Society,  395. 

Osgood,  Dr.  S.  M.,  205. 

Page,  Rev.  S.  B.,  200. 


418 


INDEX 


Parker,  Rev.  Dauiel :  doctrine  of, 
122 ;  Dr.  Peck  on,  123  ;  early  and 
later  career  of,  12-5;  still  having 
adherents,  131. 

Parkman  :  quoted  from,  10,  11,  17. 

Pastoral  Conference :  origin  of,  239. 

Peck,  Dr.  J.  M. :  introduced,  47; 
influenced  by  Luther  Rice,  74 ; 
writing  to  Dr.  Staughton,  75 ; 
corresponding  with  Dr.  Going, 
75  ;  report  from,  83 ;  quotation 
from,  122,  123 ;  organized  church 
at  Alton,  170 ;  Sunday-school 
work  of,  245 ;  helping  education, 
260;  active  in  educational  mat- 
ters, 266;  quotation  from,  267 
associate  editor  of  paper  in  IIH 
nois,  381. 

Peoria:  claiming  mention,  101 
date  of  church  at,  102 ;  pastor 
ates  at,  102, 103. 

Pioneer :  ministers  spoken  of,  25 
life  pictured,  71,  72 ;  history  nee 
essarily    imperfect,    72 ;    itiner 
ancy   described,  85 ;    constancy 
developed,  90. 

Pioneers,  Baptist:  in  Illinois,  39 
life  led  by  them,  45,  46 ;  contem 
pyorary  with  Home  Mission  So 
ciety  In  Illinois,  48  ;  of  Indiana, 
51;  when  first  in  Michigan,  61 
62 ;  life  of,  pictured,  71 ;  means 
of  support  of,  78 ;  mode  of  life 
described,  78. 

Pioneers :  seeking  a  home,  11 ;  vic- 
tories of,  24;  ministry  of,  25; 
commemorated  by  monument, 
28 ;  in  Ohio,  30 ;  sharing  respon- 
sibilities with  ministry,  31 ;  life 
of,  in  Wisconsin,  66 ;  one  of,  68  ; 
life  of,  pictured,  71. 

Preachers :  pioneer,  25 ;  character 
of,  described,  76 ;  itinerant,  83 ; 
one  of,  an  itinerant  described,  84. 


Powell,  Rev.  Thomas:  work  of,  50. 

Protestantism  :  apostles  of,  10,  11 ; 
representatives  of,  11. 

Publication  Society,  The:  and 
Sunday-schools,  244 ;  indebted- 
ness of  West  to,  244;  sending 
Sunday-school  missionaries,  47 ; 
Dr.  Blackall  connected  with,  248  ; 
and  Young  People's  Union,  252  ; 
purchasing  and  starting  paper, 
2.55;  conference  held  by,  255; 
additional  influence  of,  258. 

Recognition  :  due  La  Salle,  Joliet, 
Marquette,  and  Nicolet,  12. 

Rice,  Luther:  influencing  J.  M. 
Pock,  74. 

Robinson,  Dr.  E.  G.:  pastor  at  Ninth 
Street,  Cincinnati,  150;  sketch  of, 
151 ;  connected  with  institution 
at  Covington,  333;  death  of,  407. 

Rockefeller,  Mr.  John  D. :  men- 
tioned, 299;  giving  to  education 
society,  300;  preferring  Chicago 
for  university,  301 ;  giving  :J600,- 
000,  302;  additional  gift  of,  to 
Chicago  University,  407. 

Sedwick,  the  brothers :  sketch  of, 
35,  36. 

Settlers,  new :  seeking  new  terri- 
tory, 15 ;  described,  16 ;  type  of, 
17. 

Shepardson,  Rev.  Daniel :  quota- 
tion from,  29,  30;  extract  from, 
91. 

Sites :  those  of  Detroit,  Cincinnati, 
Milwaukee,  and  Chicago,  18. 

Shurtleff  College :  organization 
and  naming  of,  268,  269;  pro- 
fessors and  presidents  at,  312, 
313;  Prof.  Bulkly  at,  317,  318; 
other  professors  at,  318-320 ;  theo- 
logical   work    at,  336;    sending 


INDEX 


419 


many  men  into  the  ministry, 
337 ;  professors  at,  337 ;  recent 
commencement  at,  405. 

Slavery,  anti- :  entering  Western 
history,  137 ;  issue  becoming 
more  pronounced,  137, 138;  issue 
almost  universal,  113;  contro- 
versy regarding  Covington  Semi- 
nary, 334 ;  agitation,  an  obsta- 
cle to  journalism,  381. 

Springfield,  111. :  church  organized 
at,  99;  Association  organized, 
100 ;  pastors  at,  100,  101 ;  laymen 
in,  101. 

Standard,  The:  quoted  from,  205; 
consolidation  of  papers  with,  389. 

States  under  consideration :  settle- 
ment of,  21,  22 ;  admitted  to 
Union,  22  ;  Baptist  historj*  with- 
in, 23. 

Statistics:  concerning  Associa- 
tions, etc.,  80;  in  Indiana  and 
Ohio,  81;  of  Milwaukee 
churches,  402. 

Stimson,  Rev.  S.  M.,  208. 

Stevens,  Rev.  John :  mentioned, 
37 ;  editor  Baptist  Weekly  Jour- 
nal, 37. 

Stott,  Pres.  W.  T. :  quoted  from, 
55,  56;  grandfather  of,  men- 
tioned, 58 ;  extract  from,  131 ; 
made  president  of  Franklin  Col- 
lege, 31o ;  sketch  of,  315  ;  quoted 
from,  357-359. 

Stone,  Rev.  O.  B.,  201. 

Sunday-schools:    sentiment 
against,  121 ;  first  one  of,  in  Illi- 
nois, 170 ;  development  of,  244  ; 
first  to  establish,  245;  influence 
of,  24f) ;     missionaries    for,  247 
workers    connected    with,    248 
B.  F.  Jacob's  influence  on,  249 
lessons    for,    adopted,    249,  250 
inductive  method  for,  250. 


Thompson,  Rev.  Wilson:    a  disci- 
ple of  Daniel  Parker,  126-128. 
Tolman,  Rev.  C.  P.,  206. 
Tolman,  Rev.  J.  F. :  sketch  of,  51, 

Torrence,  the  rule  of:  given,  41; 
mentioned,  1.37 

Triennial  Convention :  appoint- 
ing of  Rev.  J.  M.  Pock,  75 ;  Rev. 
Isaac  McCoy,  185. 

Two-seed  doctrine :  mentioned, 
r22;  nature  of,  124;  ignorance 
and  intolerance  connected  with, 
129  ;  still  adherents  of,  131. 

University  of  Chicago  (old) :  re- 
ferred to,  280 ;  origin  of,  281 ;  Dr. 
Burroughs  connected  with,  281, 
282;  chartered,  282;  instruction 
begun  at,  283 ;  Dr.  Burroughs 
president  of,  286 ;  difficulties  of, 
280-290 ;  sale  of  buildings  of,  289  ; 
ceased  to  e.xist,  291 ;  Dearborn 
Observatory  connected  with, 
291 ;  Dr.  Boise  connected  with, 
320;  Profs.  Matthews  and  Mixer 
at,  321,  322. 

University  of  Chicago  (new); 
thought  of,  301 ;  gift  of  $600,000 
to,  303 ;  organization  of,  303 : 
Board  of,  304 ;  Dr.  Harper  made 
president  of,  305 ;  grounds  pur- 
chased for,  and  1)  u  i  1  d  i  n  g  s 
erected,  306, 307  ;  gifts  of  Chicago 
to,  306;  opening  of,  308;  an  ob- 
servatory for,  308 ;  faculty  of, 
309 ;  Morgan  Park  Seminary 
connected  with,  3.53;  professors 
of  divinity  school  of,  354,  355 : 
acquiring  property  at  Morgan 
Park,  a55,  affiliating  Wayland 
Academy,  364 ;  summer  convo- 
cation at,  40!> :  additional  gifts 
to,  407  ;  assets  of,  407. 


420 


INDEX 


Union,  American  Baptist  Mission- 
ary :  article  in  constitution  of, 
192 ;  diiference  of,  witli  Free 
Mission  Society,  192 ;  relation  of, 
to  women's  organization,  210. 

Union,  Baptist  Young  People's : 
introductory  to,  251 ;  the  Publi- 
cation Society  connected  with, 
2.52 ;  Mr.  Van  Osdel's  influence 
on,  252,  253;  preliminary  move- 
ments of,  2.54 ;  organization  of, 
256 ;  John  H.  Chapman  president 
of,  257. 

Vawter,  Deacon  John :  described, 
51-50. 

Waukesha:  first  Baptist  church 
organized  in,  G6. 

West :  enterprises  of,  15 ;  French 
outposts  in,  18 ;  pastorates  in, 
147 ;  laymen  and  ministry  of, 
147, 148  ;  schools  of,  149  ;  Baptists 
of,  co-operating  in  missions,  191 ; 
services  of  Home  Mission  Society 
in,  196-198 ;  Women's  Society  of, 
210 ;  Sunday-schools  in,  245  ; 
Cincinnati  commercial  center 
of,  329 ;  academies  in,  355. 


"  Western  Christian  "  :  foundation 
of,  193. 

Western  Baptist  Theological  In- 
stitute: organized,  333;  divided, 
334 ;  dissolved,  334. 

Weston,  H.  G. ;  pastor  at  Peoria, 
102  ;  sketch  of,  ia2,  103. 

Wisconsin  :  settled,  13 ;  organized 
as  Territory,  22;  admitted  to 
Union,  22 ;  pioneer  life  in,  66 ; 
first  Baptist  church  organized 
in,  60;  pioneer  Baptist  history 
in,  09 ;  additional  notice  of,  182 ; 
State  organization,  225,  234-236; 
results  in,  243 ;  theological  edu- 
cation in,  337 ;  preparatory  edu- 
cational institutions  in,  362-364. 

Women :  foreign  mission  work  of, 
209-214 ;  home  mission  work  of, 
214-219 ;  noted  workers  among, 
211,  212;  publications  of,  213: 
State  organizations  of,  213,  214 ; 
home  mission  workers  among, 
215;  reports  of,  for  home  field, 
217 ;  home  training  school  of, 
218 ;  home  officers  of,  218. 


aSv  oUhe  Baptists  m  the  Western 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Libi-ary 


1    1012  00051   9795 


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